Vision of Escaflowne: Silent Attack
by Shadow Chaser
Summary: The mysteries of Gaia are nothing new to Hitomi Kanzaki as she returns into war and chaos, but the mysteries of Van's past are catching up to haunt them all. The truth will be told of the Draconians and their fate.
1. Part 1

Vision of Escaflowne: Silent Attack

Vision of Escaflowne: Silent Attack 

By: Shadow Chaser

**_Timeframe: Three years after the end of Escaflowne, something unknown and deadly has put every single kingdom in the world of Gaia on alert.Calling Hitomi Kanazaki back to the world from the Mystic Moon (Earth), she is their only defense against this killer of humans and humanoid alike._**

**_Author's Note: I did not watch the Escaflowne movie.I only based this fic off of the subbed version of Escaflowne.Though I think the dubbing of it is pretty good with the exception of a few things that I don't really like in there (mind you, like Allen's American voice; and how the cut the poor episodes to pieces…).Escaflowne and all characters do not belong to me; they belong to Emotion, Sunrise Inc.East Rali, Gyei von Colewrich, Scina Abira, Gerowyn Chambers, King Abira, and Letkus Astian belong to me…if you want to use them ask me.Also, copy righted by Lucasbooks/Lucasfilm and Michael A. Stackpole is Scina's type of fighting style. (I took it from I, Jedi - by Michael A. Stackpole).Another fighting style is the Gatotsu Stance and its various forms.Those are copyrighted by whoever owns Rurouni Kenshin.I just used it cause I needed some type of fighting skill for East.I like to thank Sephy for proofreading this fic for me…bunches of hugs to you Sephy!Started: 9/20/00.Completed: 8/19/01._**

**Characters:**

Van Slanzar de Fanel - king of Fanelia - pilot of Escaflowne

Allen Crusade Schezar - knight of Asturia - pilot of Scherazade

Hitomi Kanazaki - high school senior - prophetess

Merle - cat woman - thief and spy

Gyei von Colewrich - knight of Fanelia - pilot of Tiberian

East Rali - knight of Draconia - rare full Atlantean

Scina Abira - Crown Princess of Perid

Millernia Aston - Queen of Asturia

Dryden Fassa - King of Asturia

Gerowyn Chambers - Lord of Fanelia - one of the 8 advisors to Van

Letkus Astian - knight of Fanelia - one of the 8 advisors to Van

**Unknown Terms:**

Camose - a cross between a horse and a camel…well, at least that's what its supposed to be

**Story:**

_Chapter One - Gaia's Prayer_

_It was so cool out, a rare time during these summers, a young man with ashen, coal black hair that covered his eyes partially thought.He stared out into the distance, watching the waning glow of the sun dip down, signaling another night in the land of Gaia, moreover in the kingdom of Fanelia.__Fanelia, how long has it been…almost three years, almost three years since he and a handful of people defeated the malevolent Zaibach Empire.Three years since the death of his brother Folken; three years since he said goodbye to a girl that he had come to deeply care for._

"King Van," a rumbling deep bass voice said behind him, startling him from his thoughts.Van Slanzar de Fanel turned around, his red-black cape swirling behind him as it was draped over his clothes.

"Yes, what is it Gyei?" Van asked, a bit annoyed.He had specifically told no one to disturb him while he was here on the balcony of his palace.But if Gyei, his chief commander of his forces was here, then it had to be very important.Gyei von Colewrich was a long time associate of his, more like a contact for him in the various kingdoms that dotted the planet of Gaia.He was Van's eyes and ears, but now, Gyei had returned to lead Van's loyal soldiers, even though Van could lead them quite well himself.

"Your Highness, there's something that is unusual in the region of the Wandering Earth, my spies had discovered this," Gyei said in a grave voice and Van took the small beige parchment from his hands.He unrolled the parchment and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"No…who could have…" Van started then trailed off as he kept looking at the parchment.

"Its true Your Majesty…all of Gaia might be in a deep predicament," the knight of Fanelia said giving Van a grim look."We might not be able to stop it if it happens," he whispered and Van nodded slightly.

"Did you inform all the other kingdoms about this?" Van asked, rolling the parchment up and he gripped the middle of it, as if his life depended on it.He was boiling angry on the inside, but he didn't show it on his features because he didn't need to show one of his loyal knights that he was worried and angry.

"No, not yet-" Gyei started but Van cut him off.

"I'll inform them myself.Get my Camose ready by tomorrow dawn, I'll be leaving then," Van ordered.

"But Sire, who will accompany you?" Gyei asked worried for his king's safety.

"I'll only take you with me, tell Lord Gerowyn Chambers to remain as head advisor until I return.He is the one I trust most out of all the eight advisors that the peasants elected," Van said and Gyei tried to suppress a chuckle.

"I assume you don't like those other 'old bastards and geezers' that you so often called them.Very unwise to call them that King Van, but I will do as you command," Gyei said and thumped his chest as a salute to Van.

Van watched him leave the clanking of his armor echoed down the long halls of the castle.He turned back around and faced the darkened skies; the parchment still gripped tightly to his hand.Whatever that thing was in the Wandering Earth area, it was definitely after something.Van hoped that it wasn't his Escaflowne…but if the thing was after his Guymelef, then he would have to do something drastic…something that might even cost him his life.

"Hitomi…you're the one that could protect us, protect me.I can protect you…but…" Van sighed as he reached from his neck for a silvery necklace chain that hung on the inside of his clothes.He pulled it out and glanced at the pinkish bulb that hung on the end of the necklace.She had given it to him, saying that she had to go back to her world, and he could remember her by this._I wish I could see you again Hitomi, only even for a second, Van thought watching the thing swing in his hand like a pendulum.He breathed out another sigh and stuck the thing back underneath his shirt.First thing first, he had to warn the other kingdoms and hopefully form an alliance of some sort with them._

***

A young petite cat-like girl watched the young king from her room window in one of the higher areas of the castle.She saw him talk with Gyei von Colewrich; then the knight left, leaving Van alone again.Merle wouldn't admit it, but she felt something for the young king…she wished that they were more than just friends, but she knew that Hitomi Kanazaki, the girl from the Mystic Moon was in Van's heart.She was nothing more than a dear friend, perhaps a sister to the king.

"Dammit Hitomi, you had to keep Van to yourself, but…" Merle whispered then fell silent as she thought of all the time Van and her used to play around the palace.Even Van's now deceased older brother Folken played with them.It was the happiest times of her life, but Merle realized that Hitomi needed a chance, a chance that she the cat girl got for fourteen years.

With that thought, Merle realized that she too missed the young prophetess, it was three years since she had gone back to her world, the Mystic Moon, and Merle missed the times they fought with each other, the time they stuck through thick and thin._Hitomi, why can't you come back? Merle wondered as she saw Van walk into the castle._

Her instincts told her to go and talk to Van, but she kept quiet.She didn't want to bother him right this moment; maybe he needed time alone._I'll talk to him tomorrow, Merle promised herself as she crawled into her bed that was in her lavish room, draperies flaunting every edge of the room.She was grateful that Van treated her like a princess, even though most of the others treated her like dirt.Van was the only one that cared for her…_

***

_Wake up; wake up, a soft voice whispered into Van's ear.Van slowly opened his eyes to see the glowing image of his mother, kneeling beside him.He saw bits of green mixed with earth brown dirt.Van suddenly sat up as he realized something was wrong with this picture."Where am I?" Van asked, watching his mother guardedly.He didn't like anything that was out of place, and he didn't really trust that this spirit was his mother._

"You in the dream plane, this you see is what used to be Atlantis," his mother, Varie said, her voice soft and melodic.

"Dream plane…" Van echoed, then glanced at her, his eyes narrowed, "why bring me here?"

"I sensed that you had an internal conflict with yourself for sometime," Varie said, opening her soft white wings to their full span and she fluttered a few inches off the ground.

"What conflict?I don't even have any," Van scoffed, still not wanting to admit his feelings for the girl from the Mystic Moon.He didn't like people that wanted to pry into his feelings.

"You do, Van Slanzar de Fanel a son of the Draconians-you just don't want anyone to know.You feel something for Hitomi Kanazaki the prophetess from the Mystic Moon, our home planet.Look…" Varie said and waved a hand in the air.A small portal what looked to be like a viewing portal appeared out of thin air in the dream plane.

Van watched as the Mystic Moon zoomed all the way down towards a red-white oval thing.He realized that it was the track that he had arrived on top of when he was slaying the dragon, three years ago.He saw Hitomi, readying her self on the track.A young woman was there, cheering her on.There were other runners on the red-white track; suddenly there was a banging sound and Van saw Hitomi shoot off like a frog on a lily pad.She ran, her face showing concentration.He silently cheered her on, wanting her to win, when suddenly the image changed to what looked like a room with lots of desks.

"Why did you change that?" Van asked as he watched an old man walk up to the front of the room and began to say things about histories and that such.Van saw Hitomi, looking out of the window, her gaze far away.He saw her scribble something on her paper and suddenly recoiled in shock as he saw on her paper, a very detailed drawing of his Escaflowne._She misses me, he realized as the truth dawned on him, and she couldn't come back to his world without a link._

"You have to take care of her, she's the one that could save this world," Varie said then suddenly there was a bright flash and Van shielded his eyes.

When he reopened them, he found himself lying on his bed, staring at the curving designs of his ceiling.He sat up, running a hand through his raven black hair and blinked his red eyes against the fading images of his dream.It was so vivid, was it real; did Hitomi really miss him?

There was a soft knocking to his door and Gyei's gruff voice came through the other side of it, "My King, if we are to leave, now is the time before anyone notices.I've already told the guards where we are headed so they will not alert anyone."

"Give me a minute," Van replied back and got out of his bed.He looked over to his formal 'kingly' uniform but rejected the idea of wearing it.He glanced to his rust red shirt and pants and decided that they were the right outfit for him to wear when meeting the other kings.He had to show them that he meant business and needed their help.

Changing out of his nightclothes and putting his pants on, Van looked at himself in a mirror, the pink bulb of the pendant hanging in the middle of his bare chest.He concentrated for a moment then white wings spread out from his back, growing to their full size.Those were his link to his past; they were also the same wings that saved Hitomi on more than one occasion.

_Focus, Van chided himself as his wings vanished back into his back and he pulled over his red shirt, feeling the familiar fabric cling to him.He grabbed the parchment and his sword.It was the same sword that had killed many people, but it was also a line of defense and it had the royal marker of his ascension if he needed the proof._

He opened the door and nodded to Gyei, who was dressed in his armor."Where's our first report going to be?" Van asked as both of them walked quietly out of the castle and towards the stables where the Camose were.

"The Kingdom of Asturia, King Dryden Fassa and Queen Millernia Aston," Gyei replied and Van nodded.Convincing them wasn't going to be so hard, but it might take some work.

***

"Lord Van?Lord Van!" Merle's voice echoed through the deep recesses of the castle.She ran from one room to the other and then skidded to a stop as she recognized one of the council members.

"Sir Astian!Sir!" Merle called bringing the young man's head around to face her.

"What is it child?" the knight Sir Letkus Astian asked, a bit impatient with the _foreign girl.He didn't know why King Van would keep such a despicable and horrid looking __alien around.If he was a close advisor and Van was a bit more reluctant to listen, then the cat girl would be gone already._

"Do you know where is King Van?" Merle asked, her eyes worried with plea.

"He left this morning with pressing business, he won't return for a few days.Until then you'll do yourself good by staying out of our way," Astian said in a snide voice.

Merle watched the knight walk off and stuck her tongue out behind his back."Hmph," she sniffed as she spun around and walked towards the courtyard.Why did Lord Van leave without her knowledge?Was it something that Sir von Colewrich talked with him last night about?Was it because he found something?

_Now don't worry Merle, Hitomi's voice echoed in her head and Merle jolted up as she glanced around wildly."Hitomi?" Merle whispered looking around from her position in the courtyard bench.But only wind answered her, blowing their cool breeze, ruffling her pink hair._

"Lord Van, please be safe, I sense something wrong," Merle whispered glanced down towards the brown ground, her feet tracing a few circles.

***

_It was uproar, Lord Gerowyn Chambers decided as he watched the various council members besides him and Sir Astian shouted their protests at him.King Van had pressing business for what reason he was not told, but it was finally good to be rid of him for a while, only if it was a few days.The kingdom didn't need this young man to rule them; he wasn't even fit even though he was of Draconian descent, __those abominations, and also the son of former King Goau de Fanel._

"Is this what you were hoping for Lord Chambers?" Letkus Astian asked, leaning down from where he stood.

"Well, I was expecting something like this, but this is even better than I thought," Gerowyn replied, glancing at the talk blue haired man.Many said that Astian looked a lot like Folken Lakur de Fanel, the late brother of the young king.The eerie resemblance even caught Gerowyn off guard as he thought he was looking at Folken instead of Letkus Astian.

"So, when do we make our move?" Astian asked standing back up and looking at the rest of the six council members shout at each other.

"Not yet, Astian, not yet.We first have to play our cards carefully, and then get rid of the people who might be loyal to Van de Fanel.Finally we'll take some of them hostage then demand where the guymelef Escaflowne is.I want that suit, it was destined to become mine, not part of the Fanel line," Gerowyn explained, grinding his teeth together as he thought up all the ways he could kill the young king.

"Yes sire as you wish.Right now we have to get the rest of them to follow," Astian replied and walked away from Gerowyn.He took a seat next to fellow council member Trayest.

"Gentlemen, I understand that you wonder why has our king gone…" Gerowyn started in a loud clear voice that cut through all the chatter.

***

_Chapter Two - Girl of the Mystic Moon or Gaia?_

"Hitomi?Hitomi?" Yukari Uchida shook the shoulder of a girl with strawberry blonde hair and sleepy green eyes.

"Uh…what?" Hitomi Kanazaki asked, glancing up at her best friend.She blinked her eyes to clear away the sleepiness and realized that she had fallen asleep on the lunch table._Oh great, I'm a senior and yet I fall asleep, Hitomi thought to herself as Yukari laughed._

"You obviously were dreaming about something good, cause you were murmuring a name 'Van' or something like that in your dreams.Was it that same Van you told me about when you came back from the column flash of light?" Yukari pried, as Hitomi looked a bit downcast.

"Yes…" Hitomi whispered hesitantly, "I miss him so much."She hugged herself as an odd chill ran all over her."Every day for these last three years since I came back, I feel as if I was missing a part of myself.I denied it at first that I was in love with him, but that feeling became stronger," she blurted out then shut up.

"It's okay," Yukari comforted her friend and Hitomi laughed a bit sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for piling all this on you Yukari.Ever since Amano left for America, things haven't been the same has it," Hitomi said, smiling weakly.

"Yeah, but you still excel in track," Yukari agreed then the bell for the school over rang and Yukari giggled."Well, now Miss Super-track-star, time to get changed and prepare yourself for the trials."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow at her best friend's mood and ran a hand through her short hair.She knew that Yukari was really in love with Amano, yet she seemed to be in a good mood._I must have hit something that she doesn't want to talk about."Yeah I guess your right," Hitomi finally agreed and stood up from her seat.She tossed her brown bag lunch into the trashcan and picked up her blue-green bag.It was the same old bag that had followed her when she went to Gaia and back, the same bag that Van had seen.__Van what are you doing now? Hitomi wondered looking at the clear blue sky._

"Hello!Earth to Hitomi!" Yukari's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Yukari.Meet you on the track!" Hitomi called out as she jogged away from her friend and headed towards the girls' locker room.

***

Hitomi glanced at herself in the mirror and reached for her necklace, but only encountered her chest bones, nothing, no silver thing hanging from her neck.She remembered that she had given the pendant to Van before she had left Gaia for the last time, telling him that he could remember her by the pendant.

"The pendant, my connection to Gaia…gone," Hitomi sighed as she sat down on the bench in the locker room.She still could tell the future from her dreams, but even her Tarot cards were gone, lost somewhere._I've given up on fortune telling, but those dreams still stay.Suddenly she doubled over in pain._

**Flash!**

_She saw numerous guymelefs marching towards the kingdom of Fanelia, intent on destroying it like it was three years ago.A man with blue hair that resembled Folken de Fanel stood on one of the shoulders of the black guymelefs.But suddenly she saw the Scherazade, Escaflowne and an army of other guymelefs opposing those in black.Then there was another flash and Hitomi saw Van, drenched in his own blood, fighting off an unseen opponent.He was dying, loosing a battle; Hitomi suddenly recoiled as she saw Van fall to the ground, dead.His outstretched limp hand held something in it…her pendant._

**Flash!**

"Oh my God," Hitomi whispered as she kneeled on the cold hard concrete ground."Not again, not again," she whispered as she saw a swirl of blackness, then the ground rushing up to her.

***

"Hitomi!" Yukari's worried voice pierced into her foggy consciousness and she opened her eyes slowly to see her best friend's concerned gaze."Hitomi are you all right?The others said that they found you in here.You've been out for about five hours," Yukari spilled.

"Huh?Its night already?" Hitomi questioned puzzled.She glanced around and saw that she was in the nurse's office.Her family was also gathered around and they seemed to be relieved.

"Yes Hitomi dear, do you want to go home now?" her mother asked brushing a lock of her hair out of her face.Hitomi blinked a bit as she felt tears creep up to her eyes."Why are you crying dear?"

"I don't know why…" Hitomi whispered then rubbed the tears away with the sleeve of her track outfit."Um…not yet, I want to practice my laps before I go, Yukari will stay with me, you can go home," Hitomi answered, not too confident of her own voice.She didn't know why tears suddenly burst into her eyes, maybe because it was her prophecy…She watched her as her family left and Yukari looked at her with serious brown eyes.

"You had a vision," she stated flatly.

"Yes I did, and it was about Van," Hitomi agreed sitting up.

"Does it mean you're going back to Gaia?"

"I don't think so because of the pendant.I gave it to Van remember?" Hitomi reminded her.

"But it is weird that you'd be having premonitions of him."

"Yeah, weird…"

***

Hitomi put the vision in the back of her mind as she looked at the lit track lanes before her eyes, the darkness of night just crawling at the edges where the light didn't shine.She needed to concentrate and make a good score on her run, she had to or else she wouldn't make the varsity team this year.

"Run, focus, run, focus," Hitomi repeated the chant to herself as she warmed up and placed her feet on the running block.She crouched down and waited for Yukari to start her run.

"Ready!"

She tensed.

"Set!"

She stuck all her weight on her pushing foot just like Amano had taught her.

"Go!"

Hitomi dashed from the running block, her hands flying up and down her sides as she kept her gaze even.She glared on ahead on the curve of the track lines.She flew down the track and saw Yukari in the distance, cheering her on.Hitomi grinned a bit then suddenly felt paralyzed.She saw a blue light surrounding her, trapping her within its embrace._Not again, Hitomi realized the familiar blue light.She glanced frantically at Yukari who had a surprised look on her face._

"Yukari! Tell my parents where I've gone!" Hitomi shouted to her best friend as she flew up with the column of the blue light.The last thing she saw was the planet of Gaia, rushing up her, and then it was blackness.

***

_Chapter Three - Alliances and Enemies_

Van knelt down on one knee keeping his gaze always on King Dryden then stood up slowly.He stood with his hands on his sides and sensed that Gyei was also patient in waiting for the new king to speak to them.

"King Van de Fanel of Fanelia, Sir Gyei von Colewrich, what brings you here to the kingdom of Astoria?" Dryden asked, his manner regal and formal.Van knew that without the scribes and other people around, the king would not act so formal, so precise.But then again, the king was never regal or formal even with those people around.

"Sir, I bring urgent news that my knight here has discovered," Van said slowly and handed one of the attendants the parchment, which was given to Dryden."The Wandering Earth where the former Zaibach Empire used to reside in is developing something sinister.My knights tell me that they could not even fathom what was building in the Wandering Earth, but they did discover that it could destroy all of Gaia.I am here to ask you for a military alliance that we may stop this 'plague' from spreading all over our planet," Van asked.He didn't like all those formal words he had to use, but this was a court with a few people that opposed him and he had to be careful with his choice of words.

He waited, his eyes moving only slightly to look at his surroundings.There were numerous people, some peasants and a few children were running around, but most had awed expressions on their faces as he had made his announcement.He noticed a long blonde haired man with an oval face that struck out his bright blue eyes, standing behind a few of the peasants, his expression was grim._Allen Schezar…Van recognized the playboy knight.Though he looked as if he could be a weak knight, Van knew the power and honor behind those looks; Allen was a good friend, an ally, someone he could trust._

"King Van, what you're saying is that you think this thing…could be 'alive' some how?" Queen Millernia interrupted the silence.

"Yes Queen," Van agreed, and noticed a sort of smile tugging on King Dryden's lips.He didn't like that hint, it meant that something was going on that made Dryden think that this was a funny situation or it was just something…

"Councilmen, please escort everyone out into the outer rooms, King Van, Sir von Colewrich, my Queen, and Sir Allen Schezar need to discuss this alone," Dryden suddenly spoke up.

Van realized that Dryden had already made up his mind about the situation…he smiled inwardly, the young king was just playing around…much like he used to.He waited for all the others to file out before approaching Dryden, more at ease without all the courtiers and servants around.

***

"Sire, is King Dryden always like that?" Van heard Gyei questioned as they mounted their Camose.He laughed lightly at Gyei's comment.Everyone who had met Dryden always reacted in some odd fashion.

"Yes he is…he's a good man for those traits," Van reassured his knight as they galloped out of Astoria's gates and towards the kingdom of Perid.

"Traits?Being bossy, arrogant, and saying that he's smarter than most of us…you call those good traits?Sire, have you lost your mind?" Gyei exclaimed and Van laughed, something rare for him.

"Gyei…no I have not lost it.I'm serious, Dryden is more than what meets the eye and what more than the mouth could say," Van said and rode ahead of him.Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gyei shake his head, still not convinced.

***

Merle pinched her heels on her Camose's flank moving it to a fast walk.She approached the gate and glanced at the guards guarding the gate to Fanelia.

"Halt!Who are you and where are you headed," one of the guards said in a gruff voice startling her.

"Uh…Merle sir.I want to know where did Lord Van head to," Merle said, and recognized the guard as one of the Allen Schezar's men who had come with Van to rebuild Fanelia, one of the few in the kingdom that respected her for what and who she was.

"Oh Merle…well, Van doesn't want anyone to know…" the guard started looking around hesitantly.

"Oh please, I just want-" Merle started.

"Oh all right…fine.He went to Asturia, should be back in a few days," the guard gave in and Merle grinned happily.

"Thank you!Thank you!" she said and kicked her Camose into a gallop, leaving the gates of Fanelia and headed out towards the distant country of Asturia._If I keep at it, hopefully I can make it to Asturia in before nightfalls…I just hope that Lord Van is still there.There's something-fishy going on in the palace and he needs to be warned, Merle thought with determination as her Camose kept at a canter/gallop pace._

***

Millernia glanced around at the pretty surroundings of one of the exquisite courtyards that dotted the palace.Van had come just at the right time, something was bothering her and Hitomi's tarot cards sometimes glowed in her room, warning danger and that sort.She wished that the girl were here, here so that she could maybe find out what was the problem.

"Hitomi, you're probably enjoying yourself right now on the Mystic Moon, doing whatever activities you enjoy," Millernia sighed as she shuffled a bit in her long flowing dress.The clear beads to her snow-white dress sparkled as they hit the sunlight streaming into the courtyard.She didn't really like dresses and preferred to be in a combat suit or something, but as peace was settling, and she was Queen, she had to wear dresses.

"They're not that bad once you get used to them," Dryden's voice said from above and Millernia looked up to her husband's face, his eyes sparkled slightly in the shadows where the sun did not shine.

"Dryden…" Millernia whispered as he took a seat next to her.

"You're also worried about Hitomi aren't you my dear," Dryden asked placing a comforting had on her pale shoulder.

"Yes…I'm also worried about the Wandering Earth.Van's visit to warn us wasn't a coincidence.The tarot cards that Hitomi left behind were acting up quite a bit, something that I've never seen before.The death card kept appearing up from the deck, glowing in my face," Millernia explained shuddering a bit as chills ran up and down her arms.She felt Dryden take her into his arms and she leaned against his strong form.

"Don't worry Millernia, we'll try to stop this from happening," Dryden comforted her.

"Ahem," there was a clearing of a throat, rather loudly, and both turned around to see Allen Schezar, standing near the edge of the courtyard.

"Yes, Allen, what is it?" Dryden asked, slightly annoyed at the knight.He didn't like anyone barging in on his private moments with his wife since they rarely got any time together with the political outwork that Dryden had to oversee.

Allen opened his mouth to speak when suddenly a blue column of light flashed into the middle of the courtyard, startling both Dryden and Millernia.They stepped back as something materialized in the middle of the courtyard.When the blue light faded a young girl dressed in an oddly familiar uniform was lying there, her blue-green bag resting beside her.

"Hitomi!" Allen cried out kneeling down besides the unconscious girl and cradling her head in his lap.He stroked her hair out of her closed eyes and Millernia could see almost tears spring to the corners of his eyes.

"Allen, move a bit, I have to see if she is all right," Millernia said, shoving the knight a bit as she laid the young teen on the ground.She checked her pulse and found that it was strong.Peering into one of her eyes, she saw that they were okay."She all right, just unconscious," Millernia said as Dryden and Allen looked over her shoulder.

"Allen take Hitomi to the West Wing guest room.We're going to let her rest there," Dryden ordered and Allen nodded, bending down and scooping Hitomi gently off the ground.

"I'll go with him to make sure she is okay," Millernia said and followed Allen.

***

Lord Gerowyn Chambers paced around one of the darkened halls of the palace.He had not received any new orders from his chief commander, which puzzled him.Something was wrong, very wrong.If King Abira didn't say anything…then he would have to start the take over himself."It has to be done now, or else we won't get this chance," Gerowyn hissed to himself, punching his left fist into the palm of his right hand.

"Lord Chambers, the council are all done away with," Astian's mellow voice said from the shadows of the darkened hall.

Gerowyn jumped around in surprise and almost had a heart attack as he thought he saw Folken de Fanel back from the dead.He shook his head to clear out that image and reminded himself that it was only Letkus Astian."Did you inject the serum into their wines?" he asked.

"Yes sir.They should be convulsing and thrashing about in their last moments of death.Post analysis will show that all of them had too much to drink and hemorrhaging of the livers and stomach caused their death," Astian replied grimly and Gerowyn smiled to himself.

"Excellent," he said, rubbing his hands together, "what about that cat-girl?Is she dead?"

"No sir, she is not to be found anywhere within the palace or the city," Astian replied and Gerowyn felt anger boil up from deep within himself.

"Damn you!She's the one that is closest to Van himself!She could be a potential problem and you let her escape?Summon the guards from the gate, I want to speak with them," Gerowyn ordered and left the hall, his long blue-black cape billowing around him.

***

Hitomi opened her eyes slowly, seeing everything as a blanket of fuzz.She blinked a couple of times clearing her vision and realized that she was staring up at a wooden ceiling filled with patterns on the wood.She glanced downwards and saw a light blue-white blanket covering her.She glanced over to her right to see a woman she had never thought she see again."Millernia," Hitomi whispered softly, startling the young woman from her sleep.

"Hitomi!You're awake!" Millernia exclaimed and hugged Hitomi who returned the hug slowly.

"Uh, Millernia, it is you…" Hitomi said as both parted.She sat up on her bed and looked at the pretty young lady tears filling her eyes.

"Yes its me…and you are really back from the Mystic Moon," Millernia exclaimed and Hitomi felt suddenly all giddy as if Millernia was a friend that she had never seen since she was young.

"We missed you," a soft baritone voice said from the doorway brining Hitomi's eyes to Allen Schezar.

"Allen…" Hitomi whispered then suddenly found herself wrapped tightly in his embrace.She returned the hug and felt a gentle kiss from Allen that traced her right ear."Allen…I…I missed you," she whispered into his ear.

"I know…nothing has been the same since you left Gaia to return to the Mystic Moon; sure there's peace and all but its been…dull," Allen replied trying to make the situation less strained.He released her and stepped back, looking at her fondly.She had grown into a beautiful young lady, but those eyes still held a spark of fierceness and kindness he had last seen three years ago.

"Where's Van, and Merle?" Hitomi asked looking around for any sign of the King of Fanelia or the cat-girl.

"Um…Hitomi, Van's going around Gaia warning them about something in the Wandering Earth.Merle's in Fanelia," Millernia explained and Hitomi's eyes widened as she remembered her prophecy.

"No…I have to warn him, that's why I came back.The Wandering Earth, they are the problem…I have to warn him about the dangers," Hitomi blurted out.She glanced at Allen who had a concerned look on his face.

"Hitomi, you should get some rest…" Allen started the trailed off as the room suddenly got dark on its own and phantom wind became to swirl everything around, papers and light objects.

"My cards!" Hitomi gasped as her familiar Tarot cards added to the small tornado that was forming in the room.She watched in horror as a card appeared in the middle of tornado, the Death card.

"What the hell is this?" Allen said as he and Millernia stood next to Hitomi, shielding their eyes with their hands.

_Hitomi watched as the Death card spun around a few times then dissolved forming a moving picture.She saw a raging battlefield with guymelefs parts strewn about along with human ones.Fires blazed through the area consuming everything.Then suddenly a liquid shadow moved into the view followed by another.There was a small figure on top of one of the shadows and she hopped down.Hitomi couldn't make her face out since it was blurry but she saw Allen and Van draw their swords out.She could see the others backing away in fear, but both stood their ground._

Suddenly the mini tornado stopped and everything fell to the ground.The room became light again and Hitomi shuddered slightly."Was…that?" she started.

"Death…Allen and Van in the same picture," Millernia said numbly.

"It won't happen," Allen said snapping Hitomi out of her daze.She glanced at him and saw determination etched onto his face."My Queen, permission to head to the Wandering Earth with the _Crusade to investigate King Van's findings?" Allen asked Millernia who had a very quiet expression on her face._

"Queen?" Hitomi whispered as she watched Millernia's expression.

"Granted," Millernia said after a moment's hesitation.Hitomi realized that Millernia still liked Allen even though she concluded that Millernia was married to Dryden after she had left Gaia three years ago.

"Hitomi would you assist us in this search?" Allen turned to Hitomi who had a confused look in her eyes.

"Yes…I guess," Hitomi agreed hoping that Allen could fill her in on all the details for this 'search'.

"You're not going without me, I want to know what's going on with Lord Van," a voice spoke up from the window and Merle's head popped in.

"Merle!" Hitomi exclaimed so glad to see the cat-girl even though they were slight rivals.She hugged the cat-girl as Merle pounced into the room gracefully.

"Hitomi, you came back!" Merle started before giving her a narrowed eye; "do you have anything to do with Lord Van?"

"Um…yes, I guess.But I have to warn him," Hitomi explained and suddenly held her hands up in protest as Merle's eyes blazed with fury and hints of jealousy.

"So you're still after him like the foreign girl you are," Merle snorted with contempt and spun around, her back facing Hitomi, her tail swishing the floor.

Hitomi sighed in frustration, "Merle, come on…can't we just look for Van together, I mean like we used to three years ago?"She noticed that Allen had a neutral expression on his face while Millernia was trying not to laugh.

"Oh…fine," Merle agreed and turned around giving Hitomi a grin.

Hitomi returned the smile then turned to Allen, "Allen when is the _Crusade ready to leave?"_

"In about twenty minutes.We're headed to the Wandering Earth," Allen replied evermore the honorable soldier.

***

"Look out!"

"Hey!Watch where you point that thing!I'm a cat-girl walking here!"

"Ahh!Stop poking my eye out!"

Allen sighed as he tried to keep the noise of his crew moving about on the _Crusade, preparing it for its voyage to the Wandering Earth.After working with them for so many years, they were still the same old crew; the same old salts._

"Man, us old farts are still around, lugging our tubs of lard around," Gaddes commented and Allen raised an eyebrow at his comrade's comment.

"Didn't know that we were getting old," Allen countered, startling Gaddes.

"What?Oh sir!Sorry, I didn't know you overheard," Gaddes started, trying to cover up what he said.

"Its okay Gaddes, we're not getting younger by any day…but…" Allen said trailing off as he spotted Hitomi chatting away with Millernia, the two of them walking slowly towards the _Crusade.She looked like an angel, the fact that if she had wings like Van did, then she __would be an angel._

_Quiet, she loves Van, but cares for you like a brother; Allen shut up the voice inside him.__But you do still feel something for her; the voice countered back and Allen gritted his teeth.Yes, he still did harbor some feelings towards the young girl, no woman, but…_

"Allen?What are you frowning about?" Hitomi's quiet voice spoke up from his side, startling him.

"Huh?Oh, Hitomi," Allen stated glancing at her, "nothing, just thinking of the past."

"Oh…" Hitomi said, suddenly quiet and Allen wondered if she was thinking of the same things he was."Well," she started brightly; "the crew's ready for take off Captain."

Allen nodded slightly distracted.He glanced down at Millernia who had a sad, yet hopeful look on her face as she stood a bit away from the _Crusade.Allen saluted to her before taking Hitomi's hand and leading her to the bridge of the massive flying ship._

"Sir!The _Crusade is prepped and ready for your command," Gaddes announced saluting to Allen as he walked onto the bridge._

"Let's go," Allen ordered, "unfurl the sails and cast off."He glanced at Hitomi who had a worried look on her face."Don't worry Hitomi, whatever is at the Wandering Stones we'll find and get to the bottom of it.Van will be safe for the time being, don't worry," Allen assured her.He saw her nodded, still a bit distracted._What feelings do I still harbor to her…?_

***

_Chapter Four - Forbidden Warnings_

Lord Chambers looked at himself in a full-length mirror, twisting a bit to see his perfect form, hidden underneath all those rich clothes.He wasn't at all the tallest, but he was tall.He had the perfect image of a knight or a man that had been working out.Black-brown hair that was closely shaved stood in small spikes on his head, accenting his deep blue eyes.It gave him a rakish air, pleasing to most of the women of the court.He wasn't as old as most of the former councilmen were, only in his late twenties.And not to add to the fact that he was a killer machine.He turned around and faced a person with a bloody face that was held by two guards.Gerowyn walked slowly over to the man and knelt down on eye level."Such a pity that you could not restrain that cat-girl," Gerowyn said softly before standing up and backing away a bit.

"King Van will return and he will take his rightful kingdom back from you, you dominatrix," the person said, spitting a bit of blood out of his mouth.

Gerowyn sighed as he watched the guard struggle against the two iron grips his arms were pinned in.He flipped a part of his red-black cape back and drew out a wicked looking long sword.Its blade was normal as any other sword, but the handle looked as if it was made out of reptile skins and the stingers of scorpions.He turned the blade as it glistened underneath the lamplight of the throne room.The room was fairly empty save for a few guards who were loyal to him, the prisoner and himself.

Gerowyn's eyes suddenly flashed and he spun around quickly, jabbing his sword into the prisoner's stomach.He smiled cruelly as the prisoner gasped a bit, trickles of blood flowing from his opened mouth, his wide eyes and his nose.Gerowyn twisted the sword in his hand a bit; another gasp of pain came from the hapless prisoner.

"Lord Chambers," Astian's voice echoed throughout the room and Gerowyn looked up from his torture to see the blue haired man walk towards him.

Gerowyn sighed, annoyed.He was having a good time slowly killing the prisoner when Letkus had to interrupt him."What is it?" Gerowyn asked, letting his annoyance flow through in his words.

"My Lord, we have received word from our spy in Perid, King Van has arrived there," Astian said in a grave voice and Gerowyn felt a hint of a smile tug at his lips.

"Good, excellent.Tell the Princess to do whatever she can to keep him there, also tell the King to stall him.We must accelerate our plans," Gerowyn purred, his low baritone voice jumping one octave.

"But there's also a problem," Letkus started and Gerowyn narrowed his eyes at his tone, "our spy on the _Crusade has informed that Allen Schezar is approaching the Wandering Earth…"_

Gerowyn noticed that the normally cool headed knight was hesitating on his words."Get on with it!What could be so bad that will ruin everything?" he demanded the knight.

"The girl from the Mystic Moon is with him, her powers increased ten-fold last time she was here.If she were to get wind of Fanelia's situation or give it to King Van, then our plans could be shattered in an instant," Astian explained and Gerowyn eye's blazed with fury at the news.

"What?How did she get here?Have the spy kill her immediately!" Gerowyn shouted, startling the guards who stood upright."No wait," Gerowyn stopped Astian in his tracks as he thought of something, "she could be of use to us.I want to see how much power she has accumulated over these three years…if she returns to Fanelia, we will test her."

"Yes my Lord.As you wish," Astian replied then turned around to leave his blue-black cloak swishing behind him, revealing some of his black armor and one of his two clawed hands.

Gerowyn bowed his head a bit as the rhythmical tapping of the knight's footsteps faded away._What could be at the Wandering Earth that would lead Allen Schezar to there? He wondered then glanced at the still conscious prisoner who was gasping, a pool of deep crimson blood around him.He walked over to the prisoner and pulled his sword out of him.The rasping sound of flesh and bone against the metal of the sword echoed throughout the room._

He took a small white cloth and wiped his sword blade, turning the cloth into red while the blade was pure silver.Gerowyn sighed and sheathed the sword; turning around he waved his hand at the guards."Toss him to the dogs, he won't survive for less than a few days with that kind of wound," he growled before walking away.He heard the sounds of the prisoner still struggling as the guards dragged him to the outside door._That girl has to be stopped…one way or the other._

***

"Well sir, the Wandering Earth…it still gives me the creeps," Gaddes said as the Crusade hovered over the place where the Zaibach Empire used to reside.

"Do a scan search, I want any data on anything unusual," Allen ordered, watching some of the monitors of his ship.A couple of years back technicians had discovered ways of locating things and can so call _scan the region making it easier to spot any enemies from long distances."Hitomi, can you spot anything with your eyes?" Allen asked._

Silence answered him.

Allen glanced at Hitomi frowning.He then recoiled a bit as he saw that she was as pale as a ghost."Hitomi!What's wrong?" Allen asked, coming over to the girl.He glanced at her and saw that her eyes were focused on a certain part in the pit of the Wandering Earth.

"Moving shadows," Hitomi whispered and Allen looked at her confused.He noticed that most of the crew was looking at her as if she had gone insane or something."Moving shadows…guymelefs…black liquid shadows," Hitomi whispered again trembling a bit.Allen took her into his arms and pressed her tightly against him, trying to comfort her.

"Shh," he said in a soothing voice, "its okay Hitomi…" Allen could feel her trembling right down to his skin.He glanced at Gaddes who had a worried look on his face."Gaddes, scan that area where Hitomi was saying," Allen ordered the blue haired man.

"Sure thing boss," Gaddes replied leaning over one of the monitors and twisting a knob."Oh my…" Gaddes suddenly exclaimed and Allen saw his face turn ashen.

"What?What is it?" Allen demanded.

"Allen…there's…there's…there's something a-alive down there," Gaddes managed to get out, "the monitors are showing that their energist readings are off the scale, almost like a machine that has no control whatsoever."

"Hnn," Allen muttered glancing down as he kept a hand resting on Hitomi's head, "all right, collect as much information as you can.I don't know if they have sensors or not, but I don't want stay here for long.We'll head back to Asturia with the information for King Dryden."

"Fire…Fanelia," Hitomi whispered suddenly and Allen glanced back down at her just in time to see her collapse.

"Hitomi!" Allen exclaimed suddenly worried about the girl.He placed a hand on her forehead and it felt hot._She has a fever…over exertion of herself from her travels or something else?Allen wondered.He looked at Gaddes who had recovered from his initial shock, "Gaddes, take us away, I think this place is influencing Hitomi."_

"Aye sir," Gaddes replied and Allen could hear the evident relief in his second-in-command's voice.He turned around and carried Hitomi gently off of the bridge and placed her into an empty secluded room."Rest Hitomi, save your strength," Allen whispered as the girl moaned a bit from the effects of the fever.He stroked her hair out of her face before standing up from her bedside and left the room, closing the door behind him.

***

Van knelt down on one knee as he finished with his little 'speech' to the King of Perid, Berion Abira.He wondered if the king would agree just like Asturia did, but since their shaky alliance, he wasn't too sure.Perid used to one of the kingdoms that was under Zaibach's control and even started to build their guymelefs for them.After Zaibach was destroyed they had nowhere to turn to, so they started guerrilla attacks on other kingdoms.Only a few months ago was Fanelia able to reach a treaty and form an alliance with the war-hungry kingdom.

"King Van of Fanelia," King Abira started and Van looked up to the old king.Wisps of a thick white beard hung down the old king's face, giving him an equivalent look of a mountain goat."Have you actually confirmed what your knight tells you so?I mean he might just even lead you out of your kingdom on a wild goose chase," Abira said in a frank voice and out of the corner of his eye Van saw Gyei bristle a bit at the comment.

"King Abira, Sir von Colewrich is my loyal soldier, he would not lead me to false rumors," Van replied, shooting a glance to Gyei to tell him to quell his anger down.

"Ah, but there could be a chance that these rumors are false," Abira countered tugging his beard thoughtfully."Still…" the king hesitated.

Van narrowed his eyes slightly.He didn't like the calculating look on the old king's face; it made him think that there was something behind all this."King Abira, do you wish time to think over your decision?" Van asked.

"Yes, that would be good.Give me two days to confer with my council.If you would not mind, your knight and you could stay in the palace until then," Abira agreed and Van noticed that he agreed too hastily.

_Something's wrong here, Van thought as he stood up and bowed to the king, keeping his eyes on level with the king's throughout the bow."I will wait your decision in two days King Abira," Van said in a monotone voice._

"Good, let my servants lead your to the rooms prepared for you," Abira said and Van followed two young men, just shy a few years of his age, out of the throne room.

"Your majesty, I don't like this…" Gyei whispered into his ear as they walked down some lit hallways.

"We'll discuss the matter later Gyei," Van warned his friend, telling him that there might be spies around even though they were away from the throne room._What's Abira planning?He knows about the strong alliance we have with Asturia…he's even afraid of Asturia's military, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to invade Fanelia, Van wondered as he kept a hand on the butt of his sword, his senses telling him to be alert._

***

"Curses, he knows we're up to something," King Abira muttered as he paced around a long wooden table, his ten advisors all sitting around it.He scratched at his white beard, fingering the end of it as he walked around.

"Your Majesty, this King Van might know more than he shows.We should find out all information regarding this Wandering Earth before disposing of him.If he is right about some mysterious life-force coming to attack us, then we should be prepared," one advisor spoke up.

"What?" Abira shouted, facing the advisor his eyes blazing with rage, "and leave Fanelia alone now?No!Those things where the Wandering Earth collects are probably false rumors."

"Then why explain his sudden arrival?" the advisor countered the shut his mouth up as he realized that it was not good to contradict the king.

"So…you're in league with him," Abira smirked, glaring at the advisor; "guards take him away to the gallows."He watched as the hapless advisor was dragged from the room."Now, gentlemen, if you have any further objections, please raise a hand," Abira started and looked around, but didn't see any hands, "good."

"Sire, Lord Chambers has started the take over of Fanelia and he sent these orders to you.He says for you to stall King Van as long as you can, also your daughter may have use in this," one of the advisors spoke up, his light blue hair shining a tint in the torch light of the council room.

"My daughter?Scina?What does she have to do with this?" Abira demanded, narrowing his old eyes.

"Father…I may be able to convince King Van to stay here longer," a young voice spoke up from the doors of the council room.

Abira watched as a girl who was fairly tall with long raven black hair that almost measured to her ankles walked him, her oval face pale against her hair, but they accented her large yellow-gold eyes.It gave her a look of a weak girl, but Abira knew the strength behind those arms and lithe frame hidden underneath a white dress."Scina," Abira started addressing the young woman, "what are you doing here.I told you many times before that my council meetings have nothing to do with you."

"Father, I heard today that King Van of Fanelia came, bearing grave news.You have a problem, you want to take over Fanelia, yet you don't want the young king to interfere or get wind of your plans.I can dispose of him easily with my skills," Scina offered and Abira rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"Sire, I suggest we do as the lady says, she may be our ace hole," the light blue haired advisor spoke up again.

"Hnn," Abira mumbled then straightened up, "Scina, you have my permission to dispose of the king.Just don't let his knight find out about this."

"As you wish father," the raven-haired girl replied bowing.She then turned around and left the room, her footsteps making no sound on the stone floor.Abira watched her leave then turned to face his council members once again, minus one councilman.

***

Merle watched the gray landscape of the desert move by in a fast pace as the _Crusade flew towards the capital of Asturia.She had heard that Hitomi had collapsed from whatever they found at the Wandering Earth.__Suits that girl right, she can't even hold her own after being transported here, Merle sniffed looking up at the stars then back down at the gray ground.She blinked her eyes as she saw something in the distance."What the…" Merle started as she saw the thing in the distance as a person lying flat on the ground, and what seemed to be a Camose near by."Sir Allen!"Merle yelled, "There's something alive down there!Looks like a person and a Camose!"_

"What?" Allen reply came from the cockpit of the ship and Merle grabbed onto the railing she was leaning on for dear life as all power was cut from the ship, instantaneously stopping it.

She squeaked out protest as she felt the air to her lungs knocked out of her as she was pressed against the side of the ship."Sir Allen!"Merle managed to call out, after regaining her breath.

"What is it Merle?" Allen asked approaching her.Merle pointed down towards the distant figure and saw that Allen narrowed his eyes.

"Get someone down there, I think that person's wounded," Allen ordered and Merle watched as a few people got off the ship and ran towards the person.She saw Allen lower the ship to the ground and walked towards the interior where the hanger bay for the guymelefs were.

Merle hesitated a bit before heading down towards the hanger bay herself.When she got there she gasped a bit at what she saw.It was the same guard that had told her where Lord Van was, but this time he was covered in blood and a large oozing wound penetrated his stomach.

"Kiron, what happened?" she heard Allen ask as he held the guard in his arms.

"S-Sir…A-Allen," she heard the guard speak and Merle slowly approached.

"Who…did this to you?" Merle asked softly, afraid that any sudden movements would hurt her friend.

"L-Lord…C-Ch-Chambers," the guard replied and Merle's eyes widened at the news.She knew that Chambers would never hurt him like that…but…

"Kiron…why?" Merle asked and could see that the man was going fast with his kind of wound.

"Fanelia…H-He w-wants…to…c-conquer it.Warn…warn…K-King Van…trap," the guard struggled with his words before he slumped over in Allen's arms, dead.

Merle resisted the urge to scream out loud at the sight of her friend dead."No," she whispered hanging her head, "Lord Van…Fanelia."She glanced back up, tears streaking her face.She angrily swiped at them and promised not to cry.

"Gaddes," Allen started and Merle could hear his voice was rough with emotion, "I don't like this, but wake Hitomi; we have to warn Van.And she's the only one that could pinpoint his location."

Merle felt a flare of jealousy that replaced her sorrow as she was reminded of Hitomi's special powers._I should be the one that could save Van, Merle thought angrily, __not Hitomi.She glanced back at Kiron who was laid gently on the floor; __I have to warn Lord Van._

***

Hitomi felt groggy as she made her way to the meeting room aboard the _Crusade.She didn't know why she was summoned there, but she had a feeling that it was very important.She opened the door to the room and came in upon the crew of the Crusade all faces looking grimmer than usual.She noticed that Merle had a pinched anger look on her face while Allen was more sullen than usual."What happened?" Hitomi asked as she stepped in._

"Hitomi, we need your help.You found Van before with your pendant, now we need your powers again to find him," Allen spoke slowly and Hitomi looked puzzled.

"Is something the matter?Is Van in trouble?" Hitomi asked fearing the worst for the one she loved and missed.

"He might not be in trouble, but his kingdom will be," Allen said in a cryptic voice then sighed, "we've received news that Fanelia could be conquered and we have to warn Van."

"Fanelia…burned to the ground like it had before," Hitomi whispered glancing down to the floor then back up.She hardened her eyes and looked straight at Allen, "What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.

"Since the pendant is most likely with Van, you don't have a way of finding him, but if you could concentrate hard enough you might be able to generalize his location," Allen said and Hitomi nodded a bit.She was a bit surprised that Van had kept the pendant she had given to him, with him.She almost expected him to leave it underneath something or maybe just keep it in a safe.

"All right I'll try, but I can't have any distractions," Hitomi replied and saw Allen wave his hand to shoo the rest of the crew out, only leaving Gaddes, Merle, him, and her in the room.It was almost eerie, as if this was a repeat of what had happen three years ago when they tried to find Van, except this time, there was nothing that Hitomi could use to help her.

A few minutes later she found herself seated, the skin-map rolled out in front of her, this time more detail was added to the map.She breathed in and out, trying to relax herself and closed her eyes as the candles flickered, sending shadows all over the skin-map.Hitomi retreated to the deep recesses of her mind, concentrating on Van's image, smell, feeling, words, and presence.She could feel her hands moving to their own accord as they traveled over the map.There were light spots, dots of happiness in the part that was marked Asturia, but that was also masked in a bit of concern.She felt fear spike through the region of Fanelia, followed by a wave of greed, lust, and power.

Hitomi tried to stick those awful feelings away from her as she concentrated harder, seeing through her mind's eye as she passed the Wandering Earth.She shuddered a bit, as the dark presence seemed stronger than before where the Wandering Earth collected.It was very soon, very soon that those dark things were going to be awake and ready to attack._No, can't concentrate on that, I have to find Van, Hitomi thought as she brushed the dark presence away from her, and rebuilt the image of Van she had in her mind as she kept her eyes closed.She burrowed further into her mind and suddenly she snapped her eyes open as she saw something…_

**Flash!**

_He was alone in a room, after talking with a knight that seemed to be his aide.She watched as he stared out of the window, into the stars.She saw that he held her pendant in his hand, fingering it unconsciously.She saw him get up and walk out of his room, heading to the gardens.He sat there, his gaze lost in deep thought.Suddenly a figure whirled into view and Hitomi saw that the figure was a girl, about her height.She had long raven black hair that was clipped into a half braid, the wind whipping her hair into her face, giving her a mysterious look.Hitomi noticed that something was wrong; her eyes were glowing erratically, almost as if they were like a predator hunting…_

**Flash!**

_She saw him wrap his hands around the girl, drawing her closer to him as they kissed with passion and almost ferocity.Hitomi felt her anguish pour out as she saw him like this…she didn't like it at all.Suddenly there was a gleam and she saw her reach behind her, Van unaware of anything, and drew out a glittering knife, keeping it low.No!Van! Hitomi tried to shout as the vision exploded and shattered to a million pieces._

**Flash!**

Hitomi found herself back in the room where she was looking at the skin-map.She noticed that Merle had a blank look on her face, while Allen's had worry written all over.Hitomi glanced down at the map and saw that her hands had stopped moving over the map and they seemed to glow a bit underneath whatever they were on top of.She lifted them away and saw that it was marked as the region of Perid, near the outlying edges of Asturia's boarders and also of the Wandering Earth.

"Hitomi, are you okay?" Allen's voice penetrated her foggy mind, brining her back to reality.

"He's in Perid," Hitomi whispered as she found that her hands lost their glow and they were shaking uncontrollably."He…" Hitomi started when she felt Allen's hands resting on her and looked across the table to see him smile a bit, though it was a sad smile.

"Its okay Hitomi, we're here for you.Tell us what you saw," Allen prodded gently and Hitomi took a deep breath, forcing her hands to stop shaking.She still felt slightly embarrassed by Allen's display of affection, but she knew that Allen did not feel any jealousy towards Van, the person she was in love with.

"You seemed pretty scared, care to share?" Merle's voice asked from her side and Hitomi noted that there was an overlaying of contempt hidden in the cat-girl's voice.

Hitomi hesitated and wondered if she should tell them about her vision of Van kissing another girl.It made her boil on the inside but she also felt scared when that girl lifted a knife and Van wasn't even aware of it."I saw Van, in a garden…then something flashed into view and a knife was drawn.Van wasn't even aware of it," Hitomi started the shut her mouth as she saw that Allen had a grim look on his face.

"You said that he was in Perid right?" Allen asked and Hitomi nodded."Damn, this makes things worst.Astoria was at war with the Peridians a few months after you left, and we're still at war with them, though they haven't attacked recently.They know the _Crusade and they know me, so if we just fly in there, there is a sure chance we'll be taken as prisoners," Allen explained and Hitomi frowned._

"Then how about we just go as ambassadors of peace?" she suggested, and looked at Gaddes who shrugged.

"Yeah, that's a good idea little lady, but I heard that the King of Perid was looking for the girl from the Mystic Moon shortly after you left," Gaddes explained as he detached himself from the wooden post he was leaning against."We can't risk this ship or the guymelefs on board, including the boss's Scherazade," he continued and Hitomi frowned.

"Then what do we do?How can we alert Van?" Hitomi asked looking around.Her gaze settled on Merle and she thought up of an idea.

"Hey!" Merle cried out, as she grew nervous with Hitomi's thoughtful look on her.

"Merle, how good are you in stealing things and being stealthy?" Hitomi asked the cat-girl who had a suspicious look on her face.

"Never got caught by the palace guards, not even once," Merle declared a proud look on her face.She snapped up, as the suspicious look returned to her features.

"Oh, I think I know where Hitomi's going with this," Allen interrupted and looked at Merle."Merle do you think you could sneak into the palace of Perid and warn Van?Hitomi would accompany you, since I think she can pinpoint Van's location in the palace," Allen asked gently and Hitomi could see the cat-girl soften up a bit.

"Um…I guess I can, but only if Hitomi stays on the outside, if I have her following me in, then who knows what'll happen if we get caught," Merle agreed and Hitomi nodded.

"Good, then lets head to Perid and get Van," Allen said standing up from his chair, his owl flying from its wooden perch to Allen's shoulder.

***

_Chapter Five - Impending Danger_

Scina brushed her long raven black hair as she sat in front of a mirror.The torch light in her room flickered as a light breeze blew in from her open windows to her chambers.She picked up a milky white clip and gathered her hair up in a half braid.Snapping the white clip against her hair she looked at herself in the mirror.Her golden-yellow eyes returned her stare and Scina glanced at something on her desk that was next to the mirror.She picked it up and stuck it in the back of her white dress, hiding it underneath all the folds of the dress.

"Mistress, where are you going?" one of her servants asked as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"I'll be back later, just going to visit someone," Scina replied her husky alto voice echoing throughout her room.She left, heading down one of the long halls in the palace.She walked past the gardens when something in the corner of her eye made her stop.Scina saw the young king of Fanelia sitting on one of the stone benches in the garden, a wistful look on his face as he stared at the stars and the Mystic Moon.She approached slowly, so not to startle the young man.

"King Van?" Scina asked in a soft voice bringing the king's head around to face her.

"May I ask who are you?" Van replied and Scina noted that he was really well mannered.

She blushed a bit and bowed her head slightly in respect, "Princess Scina Abira."She raised her eyes and looked at him; she felt drawn to him as if he had some kind of magnet on him.

"Ah, forgive me Princess if I intruded into your garden, I'll leave now," she saw him make a move but raised a hand and stepped forward a bit to stop him.

"No, wait, Your Highness.You're not intruding, I was wondering why you were out here, that's all," Scina said hastily as she approached him and motioned him to sit down, "you had a wistful look on your face?Could it be someone you were thinking about?"

"No…" Van replied and Scina heard hesitation in his voice.

"If you want to share with me, then I am willing to listen," Scina pried gently, taking one of his gloved hands into her own.She was surprised at herself for this sudden gesture and saw in his face that he too was also surprised."Oh…um…sorry," Scina said a bit flustered and released his hand.

He shrugged a bit, and turned his face a bit away from her, but she could see that he was blushing."I was just thinking about another girl I used to love, but…she…I guess she won't come back," he started hesitantly.

"Oh…how awful.Did she leave you for another?" Scina asked and suddenly recoiled a bit as he faced her, his eyes blazing with anger.

"How could you say that…" the young king started but Scina saw that he realized he was talking to the Princess of Perid."Sorry for my reaction…it's just that…" he apologized and Scina smiled a bit.

"Its okay Your Highness, I know how you feel," Scina replied then shivered a bit as a cold breeze passed by.She felt an arm around her and herself being pulled close to a warm body.Scina looked with surprise at Van who held her close.

"Its chilly out, you should have had a shawl or something," she heard his rumbling baritone voice as she leaned against him.

"I'm perfectly fine with you here," Scina whispered under her breath then glanced at Van, "do you want me to tell you my story…about my only love that went away?"

"Only if you feel up to it," the king replied and Scina sighed, her eyes tracing his jaw line and neck.

"I was around fourteen when I met with this incredibly handsome young man. He was one of Zaibach's commanders…having this light blue hair that was long to his shoulders.He was around twenty-four years old and it seemed that many respected him for his tactical genius.He came to Perid on a usual mission for my father's report on the guymelefs we were constructing for them.I was against the construction, but my father wanted all that power.I was playing in the garden when he and my father walked by.I saw them look at me and heard my father comment that I was headstrong and probably ill willed.But the Zaibach official knelt down next to me and asked me a few questions.It was then that I realized that I was in love with him.I saw him again and again when he came for my father's report, a few months later I found out that he had been reassigned next to Dornkirk himself.I felt elated for his position, but yet, I could not see him anymore.When the war was raging on, and near the end of it I heard from some traders that the blue haired man that I had fallen in love with had died during battle.I was devastated…" Scina said then hesitated a bit.

"But he died in battle like a knight," she heard Van trying to comfort her as tears fell down her eyes.

"I don't really remember his name, but I do remember that there was one word that people usually called him…Strategos…" Scina whispered then felt Van stiffen a bit."What?Is something the matter?" she asked looking at him with worry.

"Nothing…" the king replied and Scina looked at him oddly.The young king seemed so open yet so reclusive at the same time.

***

Van listened as the Princess told her story…it was in a way like his, except Hitomi came from another world, the Mystic Moon to be precise.Her arrival to this world was by pure accident, then she suddenly left during the middle of the war, but Van had felt the urge to go and take her back…it was the first time that he realized that he missed her.She was like a link to him something he could not afford to lose.But after the war, Hitomi said that she wanted to go back to her world…and just left him, giving him the pendant as a reminder of her.

Now this Princess, she was almost like him in some way.He stiffened a bit as he heard his deceased brother's assumed last name._Strategos…my brother met this young Princess? Van wondered as he replied to the Princess's inquiry, "Nothing…"_

"I'm sorry for pouring out all this to you…but…" the princess started and Van shook his head slightly.

"No, its okay.It looks like you've been holding this to your heart for a long time," he said looking down at her.She looked pretty under the shade of the moonlight, her golden-yellow eyes glowing as if there was a current of power running through her veins.Her black hair shone a bit, giving her a mysterious look.Van's eyes traced her oval face, her jaw-line and her soft lips…before his mind even registered what he was doing, Van was kissing the Princess with passion.

He pulled her close as both stood up and felt her response to his kiss.He closed his eyes savoring her taste…then suddenly felt something in the back of his mind warning him of impending danger.Suddenly pain flashed in his head and he heard Hitomi's voice cry out in his mind…_No! Van!He snapped his eyes open and pushed away from the Princess violently as he staggered back a bit blinking.He realized that he was breathing hard for whatever reason he could not understand._

"What?What's the matter?" Scina's voice penetrated through his hazy mind as he shook his head a bit.He glanced at her and felt something evil radiating from her.

"Stay away," he said, his own voice sounding harsh to his ears.That evil was resonating like a pulse of a heartbeat…and it was coming from her direction.

"Your Majesty…perhaps…" Scina started and Van shook his head violently.

"No…I'm…sorry, Princess.I'll take leave now," Van replied in a most polite manner he could muster up and brushed past her, looking at the ground.Out of the corner of his eye he could see something-silvery flash in the back of her dress and frowned a bit._What did she have behind her? Van wondered as he staggered back to his room in the castle._

"I take it you found something…" Gyei's voice said from the shadows of his room as Van closed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it.

Van nodded numbly, trying to calm his breathing."Something's not right here…" he whispered as he met Gyei's hard gaze.Something wasn't right; Van knew that for sure.

***

Scina sat down in one of the many chairs that were in the council room.All the councilmen had left, adjourning for the night to finish whatever they were going to do, or cook up some scheme to displace her father from the throne.It was the same thing every night and day.She angrily pulled the milky white clip from her hair, letting her hair flow freely as she slammed the clip to the table top, making a few guards jump, but it didn't make her father jump.

"I see that you failed," her father's voice said and Scina couldn't hear any emotions in it.Which meant that either her father was furious, or disappointed…she rather have him furious than disappointed.

"Something was probing us, I felt it…it could be the girl from the Mystic Moon you were babbling about for days after the war.She might be back in this world.I felt her probe just before I had the chance to kill King Van," Scina spat out, banging a fist on the table, making some of the silverware and plates jump a bit into the air.

"You would like to vent out your anger," Abira observed carefully and Scina nodded a bit.She watched as he snapped his fingers and a guard came over…Scina noted that the guard was totally oblivious to what was going to happen next.

Scina stood up, and unzipped her white dress, letting it pool to the ground next to her chair.She saw some of the guards', stationed around the interior of the council chamber, eyes light up as they saw she was wearing a close fitting blood red-black body suit, her combat outfit.She walked over to a wall and pulled a sword from its place on the wall.Scina glanced at the silvery sword and slashed a few times with it, a whirling sound filling the air.She smiled cruelly as she hefted the sword and walked over to the guard who was also instructed to draw out his sword.

"Let me see how much your skills have improved daughter," Abira said and Scina saluted him with her sword.

She glanced at the lone guard who stood in a battle ready position."Did he get any powder?" Scina asked looking at one of the servants who was standing next to her father.

"Yes ma'am…"ki" powder for your opponent this time, Your Highness," the servant replied and Scina nodded curtly.

She turned back to the soldier who looked highly nervous."Your name soldier," Scina demanded, twirling her sword around.

"C-Crion…A-Adams," the young man replied nervously, "um, what's that stuff the old hag just put on me?"

"You have the ability to destroy my father once and for all, but you'll have to get through me first, so your move, Crion," Scina said in the deadly quite voice and place her left foot in back of her, her right one lightly in front of her.She grabbed her sword with two hands and pointed the tip of the sharp sword on the ground, enabling her to make a triangle cut easily if the opponent wasn't too careful.It was her trademark fighting style; she called it the Anazati Slewing Stance.

"M-Move?" the man replied, and Scina sighed a bit in frustration.

"How about this…" she started then raised her right hand and pointed it palm faced at the soldier.She smiled as she felt her power transfer to her hand and her eyes glowed.A small ball of blue-white energy shot out from her palm and towards Crion who had a shocked look on his face.She huffed a bit and narrowed her eyes in anger, "Put your damn hand up and concentrate on an energy you idiot!"

She watched as the soldier quickly did as she ordered and grinned a bit as another energy ball, this time orange-white shot from his palm and intercepted hers.Scina shielded her eyes, as the blast of the two energy balls impacting each other was hot and bright.She didn't wait until the blast die down as she charged at the soldier, her sword drawn and ready to strike.She slashed at the soldier and met resistance as he drew out his sword and blocked her blow.

Scina stepped back a few and pointed her sword in a downward position.She narrowed her eyes and watched as he moved towards her slowly like a predator hunting its prey._This guy's good, Scina thought to herself as she brought her sword up again defending an overhead blow.She grinned a bit then faltered as she realized that she had left her stomach open to attack and stumbled back as the air left her; punched out by the soldier.She watched the soldier smile a bit and advance.Scina hefted her sword with one hand and charged, slashing at him.She watched carefully as he blocked all her blows, and suddenly found a window of opportunity as she locked him in an 'x' grip, her leg wrapped around one of his, ready to dump him to the ground and jab her sword into his throat.She threw him to the ground and fired a "ki" blast at him, but he rolled away from her trap and Scina gritted her teeth in anger._

"Enough games, this is where I kill you," Scina spat out, advancing on the soldier.Her hair blew in different directions as her eyes glowed with fierce intensity, almost to the point where they turned a bright white.She moved quickly ducking under his overhead cut and jabbed her elbow into his stomach, forcing him to back into a wall.She then brought her free hand up and held his neck against the wall.Her left knee kicked him in the groin area, making him drop the sword.She then threw him up into the air and stabbed him in the heart as he dropped to the ground.Blood gushed from his fatal wound and Scina pulled out her sword and turned away from the lifeless body.She walked back to the table where her father was sitting, a calm look on his face.

"He almost had you there, daughter," her father spoke up in a grave voice.

"No worry, he wasn't a match for my powers and skills," Scina replied arrogantly then looked up to see two pairs of eyes hidden in the shadows watching her._Spies, most likely here to warn Van, Scina concluded as she reverted her gaze back to her father._

"There will be another chance to kill the king.But I have to rest now, tomorrow I'll have to get those wings from that damned abomination," King Abira said and Scina nodded.

"Yes father," she replied standing up and bowed to him.She then spun around and left the room.As soon as the door closed behind her she turned her footsteps towards where she had seen those eyes.Whoever they were, they were going to be in some serious trouble when she found them.

***

_Chapter Six- Warnings of Danger_

Merle was seriously spooked as she and Hitomi approached the gates to the capital of Perid.The place looked so dark and creepy this late at night.She held onto Hitomi's arm in a death grip as the two of them stopped in front of the gates.

"Halt!Who goes there?" one of the guards standing on the tall sentry tower that over looked the gates called down to them.

"My grandmother and I were out all day picking the wild fruits, we didn't realize the time and just made it back here.But she along the way hurt her leg.Please let us in so I can find a doctor for her leg," Merle spoke up in the best pleading voice she could muster up without letting her fear flow through.She silently jabbed Hitomi who was hidden underneath a cloak and hunched over to speak a little.

"Ohh…my poor aching foot…" Hitomi said in a crackling voice and Merle thought that she was too into the part.

"Well, okay I guess you could come in, but hurry, there's been reports that something's creepy going on," the same guard spoke again and motioned to someone Merle could not see in the shadows.She grinned slightly as the gates cracked open and she walked in with Hitomi in tow.Looking around Merle saw that there was a straight path that led to the palace and started to follow when Hitomi spoke up beside her.

"Now dear, remember my house is this way," the old voice Hitomi had tried to put on cracked with force and Merle felt her left arm strongly tugged in the left direction.She narrowed her eyes at the brown cloak Hitomi was hidden in as they moved to the left and into the shadows.

"What do you think you're doing?The castle was on a direct path!" Merle hissed to the girl as soon as they were out of the guards' sight and hearing range.

"Merle, the guards were watching us, if you didn't stick to your part then we would have been caught there.Now lets go to the castle the long way, we'll try to avoid the guards this way by taking the back streets," Hitomi explained returning to her normal voice and Merle gave her a dark look.

"Fine, Miss I-Know-The-Direction, lead on," Merle snipped at her then grumbled under her breath, "just hope you don't get us caught."She followed the girl deep into the capital.

***

Hitomi knew that she would have to rely on her own instincts and her special powers to get them to the castle through the back streets of the musty, and mostly dirty capital.She suspected that the king only lavished in his own goods, not even caring for the citizens of the town; as she saw some of the grungy people walking around searching for scraps of food to eat.It was like some of the parts of Tokyo she had seen before…but this one seemed worst.

"Miss, food for me?" a voice spoke up beside her and Hitomi looked into a wrinkled, brown spotted face that was only skin and bones.

"Uh…sorry ma'am…I have nothing on me," Hitomi started when the old woman grabbed onto her sleeve and Hitomi shivered a bit as she felt bones instead of life hands on her right wrist."Let me go!" Hitomi said more forcefully and shook the old crone off.

"Uh, H-Hitomi," Merle's scared voice said and she turned to what the cat-girl was looking at.She gasped as she saw more than ten bone-like starving people walking towards them, their hands outstretched as if they wanted to eat them or something.

"Merle," Hitomi said her heart beating very fast with fear.

"Yeah?" Merle's scared voice replied and Hitomi felt her hand grab hers in an effort to calm herself down.

"Run," Hitomi ordered and she forced her legs to move as they were rooted to the ground in fear.She dragged Merle along until they were a few feet away from the bone-people before the cat-girl found her own legs and ran quickly.Hitomi ran along side the girl as both plowed their way through the dark streets when suddenly Hitomi skidded to a stop as a looming vine covered wall was before them.

"Um, which way now Hitomi?" Merle asked and Hitomi noted that the cat-girl was slightly out of breath, either from being so scared or they had run so far.

"This looks like the castle wall, window up there!" Hitomi pointed out and looked at Merle who had an even look on her face.

"You can climb right?" Merle asked and Hitomi nodded.She had a bit of climbing lessons to strengthen her leg muscles during her track and field practices.They had helped for her long jump and marathon runs.

She put one of her feet into a secure vine holding and hoisted herself up after Merle.Climbing with ease she reached halfway before she glanced down to see that the street they were on was covered with those bone-people."Um, Merle, hurry it up, we might have company," Hitomi hissed at the cat-girl who was climbing in a slow way.

"Yes ma'am," Merle's reply came down and Hitomi couldn't decide whether it was sarcasm or respect; but the cat-girl did climb a little faster.

As soon as Hitomi felt her hand touch the window she breathed a sigh of relief.The window was medium size in comparison to how many stories they were up from the ground floor.She climbed in and looked around the room they had climbed into.

"Nice weapons," Merle commented as Hitomi saw many different kinds of swords, bayonets, clubs, axes, guns, and…

"Drag-energists?" Hitomi asked, puzzled as she went over to a pile of purple-pink energists, which were glowing with power, creating a night light of some sort in the room.She went over and touched one; it felt warm as if it wanted her to hold it…as if it was alive in some way.

"Um…Hitomi…your eyes…" Merle's voice spoke up behind her and Hitomi glanced at a mirror that was next to the drag-energists.She recoiled as she saw that her eyes were glowing faintly.

"Uh…" Hitomi started taking her hand away from the energist and her eyes returned to their normal color.

"I don't think that was normal…" Merle commented as she looked over Hitomi's shoulder at the energists, which seemed to glow in a happy way."I think they like you," she added on.

"Huh?I thought energists were not alive, just a power source," Hitomi asked looking at the energists.

"Well, um…might as well take one and ask Van or Allen later on," Merle suggested and Hitomi nodded a bit.

"Okay, I guess," she agreed, hesitating a bit.She took one from the small pile and placed it in a small bag that she had brought along that was hidden underneath her brown cloak.It glowed a bit, the light shining through her bag, before the light died down.Looking back at the pile she saw that the other drag-energists also had stopped glowing their purple-pink color.

Suddenly there was a noise coming from outside of the room that sounded like two people fighting with swords and Hitomi saw Merle peek outside."Whoa…who's the lady fighting the guard?" Merle said and Hitomi crept out to where Merle was looking from a balcony down to a torch lit room with a long table and one medium aged man sitting on one end of the table, watching a girl with raven black hair fighting a guard.

Hitomi closed her eyes as she saw the girl kill the guard and tried not to throw up at the bloody mess the girl left behind.She opened her eyes and returned her gaze to the girl and found that she was looking at them, her golden-yellow eyes narrowed with suspicion._Uh oh…Hitomi thought as she realized that they were spotted, but her fear turned to puzzlement as she saw that the girl did not alert any of the guards, just walk out of the room after talking with the person who was her father."Merle, lets go find Van before that girl gets to us.I got a bad resonating feeling from that girl," Hitomi whispered to Merle who nodded slightly._

Hitomi followed the cat-girl who was using the shadows to her every advantage and Hitomi admired Merle's skills to blend in with the darkness, making her a formidable opponent if she was a soldier.They walked along the darkened hallways, one torchlight shining the way every twenty steps or so.

"So…who do we have here?" a husky alto voice said from the darkness and Hitomi bit back a gasp as the same girl who killed the guard appeared before them, her sword drawn and glistening in the torch light.Her eyes showed pure malice and Hitomi could feel evil resonating from her light a heartbeat, almost like what she had felt back at the Wandering Earth.

"Um…" Merle started when there was a heavy footstep that fell behind them.

"Ah, there are those two I ordered to come with me, you two ladies don't know your directions do you," a gruff voice said and Hitomi turned around to see a man dressed in Fanelia armor, his shoulder length brown hair tied behind his head, a half smile pulling along the sides of his squarish jaw.

"Sir von Colewrich, do you know these two?" the girl asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course, they were the ones I sent from Fanelia to provide me with the latest information so that King Van can keep to date about his country's business, Princess Scina.But these two have a habit of taking the shadows and usually end up where they aren't supposed to sometimes.My apologies," the man called Colewrich said and Hitomi was suddenly grateful of an ally.She watched as the Princess of Perid walked away, anger evident in her steps.

"Gyei!" Merle cried out as soon as the Princess's steps faded away.Hitomi watched with a raised eyebrow as the cat-girl launched herself in a big bear hug with the knight.

"Merle, what in blazes are you doing here?I thought I told no one to tell you where King Van was," the knight said then looked at Hitomi who blushed a bit."Who is this young lady?"

"Hitomi, Hitomi Kanazaki, sir," Hitomi said in a formal voice bowing a bit.

"_The Hitomi that King Van was talking about ever since the Great War?The girl from the Mystic Moon?Then this is no coincidence, you must be here for something important," Gyei concluded and Hitomi noted that this man was a fast thinker._

"Yes sir, something very important that concerns Fanelia and the Wandering Earth," Hitomi stated in a grave voice.

***

Allen watched through binoculars as Hitomi and Merle disappeared into the city of Perid.The _Crusade had settled down in the dense forests near the walled city, undetected by the dark night._

"Boss?What now?I mean with Merle and Hitomi in the city, what do we do?" Gaddes spoke up beside him as he set the binoculars down on the wooden railing.

"Waiting would be a long time, since they have to make their way past the sentry guards and actually find Van himself to deliver the message, also who knows if they might be caught," Allen mumbled mostly to himself as he answered Gaddes' question.He sighed and looked at the stars that were partially hidden by the thick foliage then back at the city."If they aren't back by tomorrow dawn, I'll head in with a few others and talk to King Abira.I'll make it a peace talk so he doesn't get hostile, but if you see any mirror flashing trouble, you'll have to bring the _Crusade in.Hopefully Hitomi and Merle will get the idea," Allen explained looking at the city's faint lights._

"Why do I get the feeling something's gonna go wrong?" Gaddes said and Allen laughed a bit.

"Don't tell me that you're believing those old wives tales again," Allen laughed, grinning at his second-in-command.

"You do ever since Hitomi came and left, you have been listening to them," Gaddes replied in a calm voice and Allen stopped laughing.

"I know…its just that," he hesitated, "I don't really know what I'll do if we have to battle it out with Perid.I can't risk either Merle or Hitomi."

"Hopefully they'll know what to do if something drastic happens.They're smart," Gaddes reassured him and Allen nodded absently.He silently prayed to whatever gods there was to keep everything all right, he did not want to throw anyone back into a war.

***

Van sat on the ledge to his room's window, a long drop to the soft earth below him, but Van wasn't worried.He could just fly, and not even worry about himself falling.But he could also be spotted and branded as an abomination._It's a twisted history that's got everyone thinking that Draconians are evil, Van thought as he rested his gloved hands on the handle of his sword which was standing up on end._

It was a history that he had lived through, with the Great War just shy of igniting again since Asturia was already at war with the Peridians.It was pathetic to him that people would still be fighting.He did not want to involve his country, but if what was true at the Wandering Earth, then he would have to rally up his men again and defend Fanelia from burning again.He kept staring out into the darkened landscape, not really paying attention to anything until he heard a soft knocking to his door.

"King Van, I brought information you need to know," Gyei's voice spoke up, muffled by the wooden door.

"Come in then," Van sighed, not really wanting to talk to anyone.Not after his little fiasco with the Princess of Perid.She had an evil aura around her, making her something dangerous; he had felt that through Hitomi's teachings._Hitomi, Van shook his head a bit, she wouldn't be coming back, she was gone from this world, and her only connection was hanging around his neck._

"Lord Van!" Merle's voice echoed throughout the room and Van whipped his head towards the door to see Merle bound through and running up to him, a joyful look on her face.

He caught her in a hug, almost tipping himself over from the ledge as she threw her full weight on him."Merle, what are you doing here?" Van asked after releasing Merle who was smiling.

"We went to the Wandering Earth to check out your information, and its true-" Merle started before Van cut her off.

"Who's we?" Van asked, shaking his head a bit as he got off of the ledge.

"Allen, the crew of the Crusade, me, and Hitomi," Merle started and Van stiffened a bit at the mention of Hitomi's name.

"Van…" a voice he thought he'd never hear again spoke up behind Gyei and Van looked up past Merle to see Hitomi, dressed in her school uniform, her hair still short, but a bit longer.She had grown a bit taller too, Van noticed, and she looked…_beautiful? A small voice spoke in the back of his mind.He clamped down on that part as he took into the fact that Hitomi was here, right now in front of him._

"…Hitomi…" Van started before he found his mouth dry from the lack of moisture.He couldn't believe it, not one bit at all, she was back…

"I think we better go…" he distantly heard Merle speak up as he kept his gaze on Hitomi who looked equally surprised.Out of the corner of his eye he saw Merle tiptoe out, dragging Gyei with her and shutting the door behind them.

As soon as the door shut Van turned his gaze away from Hitomi and stared out into the blanket of black night.He glanced a bit at Hitomi who was staring down at her sneakers."I thought you couldn't come back…" Van said softly as he turned back to look at the star-dotted skyline.He reached into his shirt and pulled out the pink orb that was hanging from his neck and lifted it up to look at it for a moment before putting it back underneath his shirt.

"Me neither…but…I missed you Van…I guess that's why I came back," he heard Hitomi say and Van sighed a bit.He turned around to face her.

Walking over to her he tipped her chin up from the ground, looking into her bright green eyes.He could see faint hints of red appear on her cheeks and Van fought a grin from appearing on his face.She was still the same old Hitomi he knew, but…Van bent down and kissed her lightly on her lips.He felt her response and pulled away a few seconds after; looking into her eyes he whispered, "I missed you too Hitomi."

"Van…I-I…" he saw her fumble for words and nodded a bit.

"I also know that you just didn't come back here to see me, something's wrong isn't it, Hitomi?" Van asked as he placed a comforting arm around her.She felt so fragile and she looked scared for a few moments."What's wrong Hitomi?" Van asked searching her scared expression for an answer.

"I-I…I saw you die Van, in another of my visions, I came back to prevent that from happening," she said in a soft voice and Van frowned a bit."I didn't want to lose you," Hitomi continued and Van pulled her closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I won't die if you are with me," Van replied determination etched in his voice.

"There's more Van…Fanelia…Merle told me that your head advisor, Gerowyn Chambers is preparing to take it over in your absence," Hitomi said after a few minutes of silence and Van stiffened a bit.

"Its true Van, we intercepted Kiron Pia after our little side-trip to where the Wandering Earth collects," Merle spoke up from the doorway and Van glanced at her, his eyes narrowed in slightly contained anger.

"Kiron Pia, isn't he one of Allen's men?" Van asked, searching his memory for the bright young man.

"Yes, one of the gate guards.Chambers injured him fatally and he was only able to deliver the message…" Merle said, trying not to break down as she leaned against the frame of the door.

Van was silent for a few minutes, boiling angry on the inside.How could Chambers betray him like that?After he had been his most trusted advisor since he rebuilt Fanelia.What motives did Chambers have for turning on him and taking over Fanelia?_This is so messed up; Van thought as he clenched a fist then released it.He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep his rising temper down."Okay…" Van started before Gyei interrupted him._

"My Lord, King Abira requests your attendance right now," Gyei spoke up, appearing next to Merle and Van raised an eyebrow.

"Now?At this hour?" Van asked and Gyei nodded.

"All right," Van decided, "Merle…you and Hitomi get back to Allen and tell him that as soon as I'm done with Abira, we'll rendezvous on the outskirts of the Peridian kingdom.I'll have to tell Abira that something's come up in Fanelia so I can get out."

"King Van, if Abira asks where did you get information, do not tell them about Lady Merle or Lady Hitomi.I had a bad feeling about the Princess…she made me feel uncomfortable," Gyei interjected and Van nodded sagely.

"There's something wrong with the Princess…she seems to have a more darker persona than most people," Van muttered mostly to himself before looking at Gyei, Merle, and Hitomi."Gyei, show them one of the hidden passages out of the castle.I'll be going to Abira.Do it quick so he doesn't suspect anything," Van ordered and gave a brief nod to Merle and Hitomi before brushing past Gyei and headed down to the throne room.

***

_Chapter Seven - East of Atlantis_

A guard met him at the door to the throne room, and Van waited patiently for the king to admit him.He was slightly confused about why did King Abira called him at this time of the night; any normal Gaian would be asleep, but the King seemed to have suffered insomnia or something of that nature.Suddenly a piercing wailing sound emerged, muffled by the heavy wooden doors and Van narrowed his eyes."What was that?" he asked one of the guards by the door.

"There was a thief whom we caught a few days back.She seemed to have a unique mark on her…some said that she was Draconian.King Abira is now paying her back for her robbery," one of the guard snidely replied and Van raised an eyebrow at the guard's comment on the thief being Draconian.

"Weren't all the Draconians killed when they destroyed Atlantis?" Van asked, keeping his voice neutral and cautious.

"Seems this one's been hiding…such a pretty little thing," another guard replied, then shrugged, "I guess the King wouldn't mind if you looked in."He opened the massive door a crack and Van slipped in.

It was dark around the edges of the throne room, but a bright light shone down in the middle of it, showing Abira and a few of his advisors.Van held his breath in surprise as he saw a crumpled figure in the middle of the red carpet that led to Abira's chair.The figure was half-naked and blood ran all over her bare back, signs that she had been tortured.

"Ah, King Van…you came just in time," Abira suddenly spoke up and Van glanced at the King who motioned him forward.He cautiously stepped from the shadows and towards Abira; something told him that he had to keep his guard up.Van walked slowly up towards the King, then stopped in front of him at a respectable distance and knelt down.The girl was a few feet away from him, her ragged breath echoing throughout the room.

"King Abira, you called me for an urgent message?" Van asked, as he shot glances at the girl.He saw her return his gaze and pain filled her eyes, but underneath that pain he saw that they were warrior's eyes.She was suffering more than she had too, Van thought, as he felt sorry for her.Whatever crime this girl committed, it was not worth her having whipped bloodied.

"Yes," Abira's commanding voice brought him back to what the king was saying."I've received a courier message from Fanelia.He says that you are to return to Fanelia immediately because of some foreign affairs of state," Abira said dryly and Van narrowed his eyes suspiciously.There was something else Abira wasn't telling him, and Van suspected that the middle-aged king knew more than he was giving on_.Does Abira know about Fanelia being taken over? Van wondered as he nodded._

"I am sorry for cutting this visit short.But--" Van was cut off as Abira shook his head.

"I also called you here because of my decision.The Peridian kingdom will not help you on this…quest…" Abira spoke, stroking his beard in a calculating way that Van did not like at all.

"…I understand," Van finally replied.He was confused as to why he felt relieved by Abira's decision not to help him and the Astorians.He bowed his head again then got up and turned around to walk out of the throne room.

"Wait, King Van," Abira's commanding tone brought him to a halt and he turned back around.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Van asked, puzzled.He seemed to get more puzzled as things kept happening…something was up, usually he wouldn't be this puzzled and Hitomi's teachings weren't telling him anything.

"King Van…what do you think of this creature here in my throne carpet?" Abira gestured to the girl who was curled up in a fetal position, occasionally moaning in pain from her whip wounds.

"She had a lot of spirit," Van said then added, "What crime did she commit to deserve this punishment?"

"Oh, she did not commit any crime, she is my slave girl…but I can give her to you as a present…" Abira hinted, his voice sly as a fox.

Van shook his head slightly, his coal black hair swishing against his eyes."No thank you Your Highness," he replied politely.

"I insist," Abira said more forcefully and Van tilted his head a fraction.What did Abira have to gain to give her to him?He didn't want her as a slave girl; she looked too young…plus he wasn't one of those kings that fantasized over perverted dreams and goals to find out how many illegal offspring he could have with slave women.

"Thank you, King Abira," Van replied through clenched teeth.A guard came over and picked up the girl like a sack of grain and followed Van out of the throne room.The guard followed Van all the way out to where Gyei was holding their Camose ready.Van shook his head a no, silencing whatever question Gyei had about their third party member.

The guard left the girl with Gyei who precariously held her against him and both men rode out of Perid.As soon as Van had left the gates, he felt the darkness that had been nibbling on the edge of his mind wear off.There was something dangerous in the kingdom and Van had never felt so relieved in his life.

***

Allen ran his blue-eyed gaze through the dark blue night.He glanced at Hitomi and Merle who were next to him on the bridge of the _Crusade."You sure that Van will meet us?" Allen asked, trying to see any sign of the young king in the pitch-blackness._

"Of course…Lord Van wouldn't go back on a promise," Merle said indignantly, but Allen could hear an overlaying tone of worry.That same worry was also on his mind and he suspected that it was especially prominent on Hitomi's mind.

It was about three hours since a knight named Gyei von Colewrich brought Hitomi and Merle to the ship.Allen had heard a lot about Colewrich and his exploits.He had heard that Colewrich had defeated many of the wild Abadons that roamed the dark forests near the kingdom of Freid.Allen smiled faintly, as he thought about the young king of Freid.Freid was so secluded; no one could get into the mountainous kingdom.He was glad though, because Prince Chid didn't need to get involved in another war-he was too young to see the horrors yet again.

"Sir!Two approaching Camose…it's the King!" Gaddes's voice came from the communication tube that ran throughout the _Crusade._

Allen flicked the returning call cap off of the tube and spoke into it, "Gaddes, have them get on board then prep the engine room for fast departure.I don't want anyone to follow us."

"Roger that sir."

Allen nodded slightly to himself then glanced at Hitomi and Merle, but they weren't on the bridge.Out of the corner of his eyes, Allen saw the flick of Merle's tail disappearing through the door to the main hall that led to the hanger bay.He raised an eyebrow at the two girls…they were just so jumpy.What did _really happen while they contacted Van, Allen wondered; usually they weren't so jumpy, with the exception of Merle occasionally.Something must have happened to keep both of them on this kind of edge.Allen sighed a bit then followed out the door to see Van, for the first time since the King had come to Astoria to warn them about the Wandering Earth._

***

The scene that greeted Allen's eyes wasn't one of which he had expected.His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he saw the young king lift himself off of his Camose with such weariness that it made him look like as if he had internal injures of sorts.What was the real surprise was what Van and his knight had brought on board the _Crusade with them.__A young girl, Allen thought as his blue eyes narrowed slightly as he saw that the girl was half-naked, her body mostly covered in a blanket and she looked dazed and half-conscious._

"Van!" Hitomi's worried voice interrupted Allen from his musings and he watched as the girl run up the Van and looked him over, concern in her green eyes.

"Lord Van!" Merle's high voice came from behind him and Allen saw the cat-girl brush past him, flying down the flight of stairs and engulfed Van in a bear hug."Lord Gyei!"Merle said with equal enthusiasm and released Van to hug the knight who had a sort of bewildered look on his face.

"…Merle?" Gyei was saying as Allen proceeded down the stairs and approached Van.He nodded briefly to the King and noticed that his eyes seemed a bit haunted as if he had some odd encounters of his own since Allen saw him back in Astoria."I take it that the Peridians didn't want an alliance," Allen hazard a guess even though he was pretty sure of the answer.

"No," Van replied and Allen could hear relief evident in his voice.He wrinkled his eyebrows in an attempt to figure out why Van was relieved that the Peridians' answer made him so glad.Some on the corner of Allen's eyes brought his eyes to look at the Camose, restlessly pawing the metal floor.Suddenly there was a soft moan coming from one of the Camose and Allen noted that both Gyei and Van perked up as if they remembered something.

He watched as Gyei eased Merle's arms off of him and the knight went over to his Camose and picked the girl off of the animal like a person plucking a feather.He was about to open his mouth to ask about the girl when Merle's jumped in, her voice in a suspicious tone.

"What is that?" the cat-girl asked, her eyes narrowed and her tail twitching in a hostile manner.Allen looked around him and saw that the rest of his crew had also come down and all of them looked a bit wary at the girl in Gyei's arms.Hitomi had a neutral expression on her face, but Allen could tell that she looked slightly hurt.He returned his gaze back to the young king and waited for an explanation.

***

Van felt Hitomi's arms around his neck and shoulders drop away slowly and he glanced back at her.She looked hurt and Van couldn't blame her.But seeing her like that made his heart ache all over his ribcage and he didn't want that hurt look in her eyes.

"Looks like the King picked up a whore after negotiations…" a loud whisper came from one of Allen's crew and Van flinched a little.

"She's not a whore," he said in a low soft voice.He took a deep breath and released it before looking straight at Hitomi and continued, "Negotiations didn't go as planned and Abira insisted I take her as a gift of some sort.But she isn't a whore because of her eyes.Behind her pain…she's a warrior of great caliber."He turned to face Allen; "She's going to need some medical attention.Abira was whipping her badly before he stopped and we talked."

Van turned back to Hitomi and saw hints of understanding in her eyes, but he privately made a promise to himself that he would talk to her later when the girl was dealt with.But right now, he had a lot to tell Allen and the rest.They would need to be prepared for war if necessary."Allen…" Van started before the knight of Cali raised a white-gloved hand telling him to stop.

"We've got a lot to talk about Van.My men can take care of the girl," Allen said and Van nodded slightly. He followed Allen up the flight of stairs when he stopped suddenly and glanced back to see Hitomi shaking her head slightly.Her face said that she wasn't going to go with them…she already knew what Allen was going to talk about and Van had a feeling that she didn't want to be near him at the moment.He turned back around and followed Allen.

***

Hitomi watched Van leave, Merle scampering behind him as she always did.She had an inkling on what they were going to talk about, but the urge to go visit that young woman that was semi-conscious was too great.When Van had said that the girl was a great warrior of caliber, she had a flash of insight from her small psychic powers.She had seen Atlantis with the winged-people again, then two young girls standing together in the face of Atlantis burning.One had gray hair with red eyes, while the other had shimmery light blue hair and hauntingly dark blue eyes.The girl with red eyes had yellow-white wings, while the dark blue-eyed girl had light blue-white wings.

The flash of insight had ended in less than a second and it left her slightly reeling."Could she be another survivor of Atlantis?" Hitomi whispered then glanced around and realized that she was the only one left in the hanger bay; all of the other crewmen had gone back to their posts.

Hitomi ran up the flight of stairs and to the bridge.When she got there she glanced around for Gaddes.Spotting him, she went up to him and asked, "Gaddes, do you know where the girl was put?"

"Um…lessee…the lower bunk room, two rooms to the right of the briefing room," Gaddes replied and Hitomi nodded a thanks before going down stairs.She quickly walked towards the girl's room and knocked softly on the door.

"Come in," a scared voice whispered and Hitomi opened the door softly then stepped in, and closed the door behind her.When she glanced around, she sucked in a breath of surprise.The whole room was dimly lit, and the girl was sitting on the bunk bed of the room, her knees pulled up to her chest and she looked terrified.

"What's the matter?" Hitomi asked tentatively walking slowly towards the girl.She stopped as the girl shrank back at her advance."Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Hitomi tried to reassure her, "my name is Hitomi Kanazaki.What's yours?"

"…East…East Rali," the girl whispered hesitantly as Hitomi sat on the edge of her bed.

"Nice name…mind that I turn on the light a bit more?" Hitomi asked and the girl shook her head a no.Hitomi reached over to a dial and turned it a bit, making the room a bit brighter.Now she had a real good look at East.She was a slender girl, very tall to say the least; probably almost as tall as Allen.She was the young girl from her vision, the one with shimmery light blue hair and dark blue eyes.

"…What…what do you want?" the girl asked hesitantly, shaking a bit in fear.

Hitomi looked at her with sad eyes; the girl was fearful…she had been through so much, Hitomi thought as she shook her head slightly."I don't want anything, I just want to get to know you better.You're among friends now.Don't worry, we won't hurt you," she said gently as she reached out and took one of East's slender, shaking hands and clasped it between her own.She looked at East with friendly eyes until she felt the shaking stop, then she released her hand.

East turned away from her and Hitomi stifled a gasp, but none too successfully.Scars lacerated her back; some darkened to show that they were old whip marks, while others were bright red, recent whip marks."What happened to you?" she whispered, horrified at the sight of East's back.

"I was King Abira's personal slave girl…caught by his men a few years back.Before then I was searching in the woods of every kingdom for my nephew…" she drew in a deep breath then released it.

Hitomi looked at her in wonderment as she spoke._This girl…woman…she's older than she looks…but how could that be, she couldn't be more than in her early teens, maybe later, Hitomi thought as she nodded slightly for East to continue._

"My older sister told me that her child was all alone in the world, no one left in her family to take care of him.My sister wanted me to find him, but she didn't tell me specifically where he would be located.All she said was, 'look for those of the energists,'" East turned back around and stared at Hitomi with her dark blue eyes, "later, I felt my sister died a few days later from grief; I felt it through a psychic link we had with each other."Hitomi saw that she was hesitating and reached out and touched her shoulder.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Hitomi gently patted her shoulder.

"No," East's voice broke as she swallowed a couple of times, "Abira's men found me a few weeks after, and they brought me to King Abira-"

"Why did they capture you?"

"Because…I'm…Draconian…"

***


	2. Part 2

Chapter Eight - The Trap is Set

_Chapter Eight - The Trap is Set_

Merle twitched her tail a bit as Van and Allen spoke, an occasional input from some of the others of the crew who were also in the meeting.In her opinion, as she watched the two men discuss whatever they were discussing, Van was more cautious than usual and he seemed worried._Hitomi?The girl?Merle wrinkled her nose, her whiskers tickling her eyes.Gah, this was all boring to her.Van was recounting his talk with King Abira, old news to her…_

"Merle," Allen's voice cut through her thoughts and she blinked a bit, "What's your opinion on Princess Scina Abira?"

She put on her best cat-I-was-paying-attention face and tilted her head slightly as she thought, "Um…she seems kinda cold…didn't really like her at first glance.Hey, you guys think that the girl could be in league with Scina Abira?"

"Don't know, but I don't think so…" Van shrugged a bit, not really too sure.

"She doesn't look like it, but then again, that little affair with the doppelganger wasn't too good.We may have to watch the girl carefully," Allen advised and Merle nodded in agreement."Speaking of which…my men have placed her in her quarters, do you think we should ask her a few questions now?" Allen suggested and Merle nodded, then glanced at Van who had a frown on his face.

"…I guess," Van replied, his gaze on something faraway.

"Lord Van, what's wrong?" Merle poked at him playfully, trying to get a smile on his face.She was a bit sick and tired of seeing everyone in a sullen mood and it was high time by her standards that someone cracked a smile.

Van gave a small grin at Merle and she grinned back, delighted that she had succeeded in getting Lord Van out of his mood."Nothing, Merle.Let's go," he replied then got up and followed Allen out of the door and towards where Allen's men had placed the girl in her temporary quarters.

Merle followed along then stopped suddenly as she almost ran into Allen's cloak and growled at him."What's the-" she started before Allen's gloved hand clamped over her mouth.

She was about to bite Allen's gloved hand when Hitomi's voice filtered from the room and the girl's hesitant and soft voice replied.She felt her eyes widened with surprise as she heard Hitomi's question and the girl's soft reply.

_"Why did they capture you?"_

_"Because…I'm…Draconian…"_

***

Hitomi turned around suddenly to see Van, Allen, Merle and a few of his men standing in her doorway, all faces mirroring the same thing.Shock.Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw East shrink back in fear, drawing a small blanket around her; she was definitely scared.Hitomi, herself was also surprised at the news, but for some odd reason she expected it from the girl.

"Draconian?!" Merle's voice pitched to a higher octave as she stumbled in, her cat eyes fixing East a neutral look.Hitomi was glad that Merle didn't start jumping in and around, demanding questions and answers as she was known to do.She had to admit, Merle had grown-up a lot since she had left Gaia.

"I thought all the Draconians were wiped out," a quiet voice spoke from behind Allen and Hitomi saw Van step in, his face betraying no emotions whatsoever, but Hitomi saw that his eyes held a half suspicious look.The other half of the gaze was telling her not to say his secret in case East was a spy or something.

"T-Th-They were…but…I survived, and am the last of my warrior race, Lieutenant-Delmi East Rali, a part of the royal family line to the throne of Atlantis…and…to…" she trailed off as she suddenly grew fearful again.Then without warning she started to look around wildly, blabbering incoherently.

"Beasts, tall ones; armored fighting machines, a fire of some sorts.A town, engulfed in flames, a beautiful new town; a hand of darkness that extends from-"

Hitomi leapt from the bed as East began to thrash around, tears mingling with her cries. 

"What the hell-" Allen muttered, stepping in and trying to make a grab for the girl to restrain her.Hitomi moved in also to help and managed to grab onto her arm, then suddenly the world disappeared and she saw raging flames burning up a countryside.

_There were numerous guymelefs moving about, most of them in formation for an attack.She saw the Escaflowne, and the Scherazade, brandishing their swords for combat; other guymelefs were behind them, preparing to defend…defend Fanelia.A man with striking features that looked a lot like the late Folken de Fanel was commanding the enemy guymelefs.She saw East, diving into a ravine to save someone, her bluish-white wings flared out above her, making her look like and angel._

She snapped out of her vision as Van grabbed her shoulders and was shouting her name frantically.She forced herself to slow down her frantic breathing as she nodded slightly, "I'm…all right Van."She avoided his concern gaze as she contemplated on what she saw.Was the vision something East had seen?Was East also a psychic like her?

"…Are you sure Hitomi?" Van asked gently, and she glanced up into his eyes; those warm loving red eyes that looked down at her.

"Van…" she hesitated then glanced at Allen who nodded, "I need to talk to you alone."

"Now?" Van asked, not harshly, but Hitomi had a feeling that Van wanted to question East after what just happened.

"Don't worry, Van.I'll ask…Lieutenant-"

"Just East.East Rali," East's frightened voice broke through what Allen was about to say.Hitomi turned her head slightly to see Merle comforting the girl who had subsided into silent tears and occasionally hyper breaths.

She looked back at Van who was nodding an ok.She felt his arms wrap around her and led her away from her room.They walked slowly down a few corridors until they arrived at the hanger bay which was empty save for the two Camose that Van and his Knight, Gyei, rode on from Perid.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, Van waiting patiently for what his love was going to say.Hitomi glanced at the trees and stars that were flying backwards from the Crusade flying at top speed towards Fanelia.It was so tranquil, so peaceful that for a moment, she didn't believe in her visions, but reality then snapped back as she knew that after a few years of not having visions, and having them now, those visions were real enough that if they continued on their supposed course, it would lead to the ultimate doom for Gaia.

"Van…the Wandering Earth…" Hitomi took a deep breath, trying to suppress the urge to cry her eyes out.She had to be strong now, she couldn't be the innocent girl she was the first time she came to Gaia.She knew the consequences of her visions and how she was connected to the fate of the planet through those visions."They are the evil source…they…are alive in some way."

"Guymelefs?" Van asked gently, one hand rubbing her back as he tried to comfort her.

Hitomi nodded, unable to speak for a moment.She took another deep breath then turned to face Van, her eyes trying to hold back the tears."I…I…saw you die.Not once, but twice.I saw you fighting in Escaflowne, fighting for Fanelia, but the darkness was too much.I saw two different conquerors, one a female, one a male.They were trying to overthrow your kingdom."

Then she couldn't hold it any longer.The anguish, the pain, and the fear for the death of her loved one came out in tears.She cried into Van's shoulder, the rock of her life, the one that truly understood her.

***

Van felt Hitomi's tears soak through his red shirt, but he didn't care.He pulled her close to him and held her close.She was going through a rough time, rougher than what she had been through the first time she was here.He was slightly unnerved that Hitomi saw his death and the destruction of Fanelia, but he let that pass.He had to concentrate hard on how to deal with Chambers who had betrayed his trust.And he had to keep a sharp eye out on Perid because of their unusual actions.Lastly, he had to watch the Wandering Earth very carefully.

Those dark creatures, no, those dark guymelefs, were the evil source his men had found.If what Hitomi said was true, Gaia was in deep peril.Then there was the issue of the Draconian warrior named East.She was part of the bloodline to the throne of Atlantis, and something else.

"The Peridians are evil," Hitomi's muffled voice said as she sniffled the last of her tears then lifted her head up to look at him.

"I know," Van replied hesitantly, wondering if he should tell how he felt during his time in Perid, "I felt something evil while I was in Perid.The King didn't have that much of an evil aura around him, but the Princess-"

"She had the raven black hair and golden-eyes; she almost tried to kill you," Hitomi interrupted him softly and he looked down at her, shocked."I saw it in a vision, she's probably is the female conqueror of Fanelia."

"Hnn.Then the other conqueror must be Chambers," Van muttered mostly to himself as he pieced all the information he had together to form an intricate and deadly puzzle.The Wandering Earth was part of the two conqueror's plans, they obviously knew about it and he was just a pawn in their game.They wanted to distract him and Chambers _had advised him to send Gyei along the outskirts to where the Wandering Earth collected and retrieve information.Which meant that Perid was in it all along to conquer Fanelia and all the other kingdoms._

"That's why they started the war with Asturia," Allen's low voice brought his head around to see the knight leaning heavily on the leg of his Scherazade.

Van was slightly irritated that Allen had intruded on his private moment with Hitomi, but he also knew that Allen would only intrude if there was something very important."It was all a distraction to leave us off guard," he replied then glanced towards where the trees were flying by fast as the _Crusade sped along and saw black dots flying at a rapid rate towards them._

"Damn!" Allen cursed then grabbed a communications tube and yelled into it, "Gaddes!Take us up and get the men to their posts!The Peridians have sent a task force to eliminate us!Get an emergency message to Asturia!Tell them to bring all their Guymelefs to the Wandering Earth and hold there until I give them the word!"

"Roger that boss!Good luck!" Gaddes' replied and Van saw Allen giving him a look then nodded.

"I'll hold them off.Can you reactivate Escaflowne?" Allen asked, hints of hope in his voice.

Van shook his head no, "I sent the drag-energist that was part of Escaflowne to be buried in the cliffs near Freid."He hung his head in shame, "I'm sorry Allen…"

"Wait!Lord Van!What about this?" Merle's voice brought his head back up and he saw Merle holding up a pinkish-white drag-energist, glowing with intensive power.

"Hey!That's the drag-energist I found in the armory at the castle!" Hitomi cried out beside him as Merle gave him the drag-energist.

The energist pulsated with power, glowing as if it recognized him, glowing with happiness at being reunited with its master.Van felt something familiar about this energist, almost as if it was Escaflowne's drag-energist."Could it be…Escaflowne's?" he wondered out loud then glanced back up at Allen with a grim determination."Hold them off as long as you can, I'll be back," Van replied then glanced at Hitomi.

"Don't die on me," he whispered to her as he took off his favorite red shirt and handed it to her.

"Van…be careful with Escaflowne," Hitomi replied cautiously before giving him a brief hug then stepped away from him, clutching his shirt to her.

Van nodded then concentrated and felt his wings spring from his back, growing to their full length, sending bits of feathers all over the hanger bay.He then walked over to the lip of the hanger bay and jumped off, letting his wings do their natural work as he flew off to where he hid his Escaflowne, next to his parents' grave.His right hand clutched the drag-energist, determination flowed through him.

Hopefully when he got Escaflowne back on its feet again, he would be on time to help Allen out, if time was on his side._Hold on Allen, Hitomi, I won't fail you, he thought as he flew towards the resting-place of Escaflowne._

***

Allen watched as Van flew off, his wings so brightly white that he thought it would be a beacon in the night.Then his attention flew back to where the dark enemy guymelefs were rapidly gaining onto the _Crusade.He saw with dismay as two of them peeled off from the group and headed towards where Van flew off._

"No! Van!" Hitomi cried out and he saw that she was reeling from panic.

"Hitomi!Merle!Get to somewhere safe!We can't do anything about Van, but I'm sure he'll take cover!" Allen shouted at the two of them as he bounded up a flight of stairs to where his Scherazade was waiting, the cockpit open and ready for him.He hopped in and closed the cockpit around him, the systems of his Scherazade coming to life.

Out of his eyes he saw Hitomi run towards the inner part of the _Crusade, dragging Merle along and he sighed with relief.He didn't have to worry about the two, especially Hitomi since he knew that both of them were smart and could cope with the situation thrown at them._

"Hey boss!" Gaddes' voice filtered into the communication filtering he had on the Scherazade.

"Ready for drop," Allen replied then felt his guymelef move and suddenly he felt light, a pure free-fall to the ground of the cliff.Well it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, he thought wiry as he activated his newly installed levistone that enabled his guymelef to fly like Zaibach's guymelefs.

Allen soared through the air, past the _Crusade_ and headed towards the enemy guymelefs, which looked to be Zaibach's guymelefs, but he knew that they were Perid's own creations, custom made for the battle against Asturia.

He knew the tricks to the guymelefs Perid had sent out against them, he had fought them before when Perid had come so close to destroying the capital of Astoria.Allen brought his sword up in a punishing swipe and sliced off the heads of two guymelefs, sending them crashing down into the deep canyon.

Perid's guymelefs weren't incapacitated like Zaibach's guymelefs when in flight, they were just like his Scherazade, deadly and efficient.Allen glanced behind him to see a few of the Peridian force fly towards the unprotected _Crusade and cursed silently to himself.He turned around and flew at top speed towards the __Crusade, coming upon one of the Peridian guymelefs with so much speed that he just didn't cut the head off of the guymelef, he cut right through the guymelef._

Allen landed onto one of the levistones of the _Crusade, rocking his ship for a moment then the ship regained its balance.He cut a wide arc towards one of the guymelefs enticing the enemy guymelef to retreat a few steps.Allen suddenly lurched forward as he felt the sword of one of the Peridian guymelefs cut into his armor.Not deep enough to destroy the eternal systems of his Scherazade, but nonetheless he was angry._

He spun around and stabbed at the chest of the enemy guymelef, destroying it completely.Turning back around, he set a grim smile on his face and waved his sword, telling them to make the first move._Van, don't take too long, he thought inwardly as he prepared himself for the next wave of guymelefs._

***

Merle could see that Hitomi was worried as they hid out in East's room, the innermost area of the _Crusade_.She also knew that Hitomi wanted to be on the bridge where she could see if Van was fighting in his Escaflowne.But it was herself that convinced Hitomi to stay where it was safe."It's for the best, Hitomi.Van doesn't want to see you hurt or anything," Merle reassured the girl as the three of them sat in silence, hearing the occasional bump or clash of swords as Allen fought their attackers off.

"I know, but I can't get that bad feeling away," Hitomi murmured, drawing her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.

"Me neither," East added softly and Merle glanced at her.She had suspicious about the girl, but she felt that East was telling the truth about her lineage.Did that mean that Van wasn't the only one of his race left?Were there others also?

"Would you guys stop that, it's giving me the creeps.I mean both of you have weird abilities and its freaking me out," Merle hissed at them, her fur ruffling a bit.

She watched as both girls said nothing, both of them wallowing in their own past histories or whatever they were thinking of._Great, they're talkative, Merle thought sarcastically as she sighed then was thrown off the edge of East's bed as the ship rocked to one side then stabled itself._

"What the…" she started and realized that Allen must have landed on one of the levistones of the ship.But then how…was he in the air all this time? She wrinkled her nose at the thought.Allen must've done a few improvements to his guymelef in the idle years.

"Lord Van…hurry…" she whispered as she felt the ship shift a bit, throwing a few light things around in the room that wasn't secured to the walls or floor."Anymore and I think I'll throw up," she commented as one particular jolt threw her to the ground violently then she rolled underneath the bed.

She grabbed onto to the bedposts from her place underneath the bed to prevent herself from sliding towards the open door, which would promptly send her flying into walls and pipes.She let loose a small snarl as she dug her hidden claws into the bedpost, then suddenly froze as a liquid metal spear shot up next to her left arm, the force of the metal taking a few bits of her fur along with it as it plowed up through the bed and into the ceiling.

She heard Hitomi and East yelp in surprise then watched as the liquid metal staff retreated, leaving a good size hole that went through the whole ship.Merle unhooked her claws from the bedpost and crawled back up to the bed where East was examining a flesh wound she received on her right arm.The liquid metal had cut through her black body suit, leaving a red blister that was surrounded by her pale skin.

"How is it?" Hitomi asked, coming over to where East was and lightly touching the wound.

"Not bad," East replied curtly and Merle heard a change in the tone of the girl's voice.She seemed more militaristic, more precise than the shy, meek girl she had seen.This was very peculiar, in her opinion.

Merle opened her mouth to say something when a sudden creaking brought their heads around and she felt her mouth drop open as she saw the wall where pipes and a small refresher was bend outward…then the whole thing collapsed on itself and Merle meowed loudly as she saw that the whole wall where the refresher was ripped away leaving the (literally) open air and the swift passing of trees as the _Crusade flew on._

Winds blew with great force as she felt herself slipping from the bed, the wind pushing against her, threatening to send her out into the great open where an intense battle was occurring and down into the deep canyon which the _Crusade was flying in."Ahhh!" she let loose a cat cry as she felt her claws loose their grip on the edge of East's bed and she went flying towards the opening.She frantically clawed at anything at came her way, trying desperately to find a perch.Finally she sunk her claws deep into the metal floor of the room, the wooden boards stripped away by the wind, and held on for dear life._

"Merle!" she heard Hitomi's cry and looked up to see her flying towards her, her soft human hands unable to hold anything._She'll die if I don't do something, Merle realized as she reached out with one hand and caught Hitomi's outstretched arm; the force of her flight swung her behind her and she gave a small whimper of pain as she felt a terrible stretch within her muscles.She gritted her teeth and hung on for dear life with one of her clawed hands still dug into the metal floor of the __Crusade._

"Merle!Try to drag her in!" East's voice boomed over the howling wind of the battle and the loss of air reduction.

"I can't!" Merle managed to get out through her pain and concentration.She could see that East had managed to grab onto one of the pipes still intact from the rip.Looking behind her Merle saw the Scherazade battling furiously with two of the Peridian guymelefs.They had taken to the air and Merle concluded that one of the guymelefs had taken up Allen's distraction and dealt a blow to the _Crusade; straight to the heart of the ship._

"Look!What's that white object!" East's frantic call alerted her to a distant object that was flying at rapid speed towards them.

"Escaflowne!" Merle cried out with joy as she grinned.Now that Lord Van was here, everything was going to be okay, she hoped.

***

_Chapter Nine - Draconian's Pledge_

Van concentrated on the black objects that were approaching rapidly, alerted to his presence.His Escaflowne's rocket engine had taken him here at the most a few seconds.As he approached, he slowed down his speed and stifled a gasp at the _Crusade_, who was limping in the air with a deep wound to its side like an animal being carved up.Van saw Allen battling in the air with the other guymelefs, trying to keep them away from his beloved ship.He noted that Allen had made improvements to his guymelef, enabling it to fly in the air.He also noted that the Peridians' guymelefs were air combat capable, which meant he had to go air on air.

"All right then," Van grimly muttered to himself as he pulled slightly on one of Escaflowne's levers and out dropped his sword.He let himself immerse in the battle, not so much as to damage himself like he did when he had merged with his Escaflowne, but enough so that he could control the dragon's actions.

Van set his jaw and dived after a guymelef that was making passes against the injured ship.He brought his claw up, the one that held his sword, and sliced the unsuspecting guymelef in half, killing the soldier inside.He then swooped up and soared high into the air, the night thermals lifting him clear up into the air.He flew into the path of the moon's light then dived down again, this time clipping a guymelef on the head and he tightened his claw and sailed upwards again-with the guymelef struggling beneath his grip.

Van dropped the lone guymelef hard onto the ground, damaging it, but not destroying it._I'll come back later and we will have someone to answer to our questions, Van thought as he swooped back down again for another kill.He suddenly felt something prickle on the back of his neck and glanced up to see two guymelefs, plunging down at a rapid rate dropping like stones at him.He struggled to stabilize himself as the guymelefs grabbed his wings, forcing him down._

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a lone guymelef approach the gaping wound where to his dismay he saw East, Hitomi, and Merle hanging on for their lives."No!" Van cried out as he saw the guymelef hit the ship hard, rocking it and Hitomi lost her grip and begun a plunge downward into the abyss."Hitomi!" Van yelled as he tried to get his dragon out of the grip of his captors but he glanced up to his only escape route and saw sharp liquid metal claws, ready to cut him up if he did anything."Hitomi!" Van cried out again, this time in desperation as he saw that he wasn't able to do anything to save the girl he loved.

Then he saw her…the Draconian.

***

Joy filled her as she saw Van arrive on Escaflowne.Hitomi watched as he made air raided kills by diving like a falcon or eagle for its kill then soar high up again, ready for his next kill.But on his third try she watched as two enemy guymelefs pounce on him, trapping him within their barricade.The ship then rocked and she felt her grip on Merle's hand slip.

Hitomi cried out as she felt herself fall, a long free fall."Help!" she cried out and she heard Merle's anguished cry.She saw Allen, struggling to get away from his captors as they tried to distract him.She saw Escaflowne, struggling like an animal, Van desperately trying for some way to abandon his guymelef and to jump after her to save her.

Then she saw her…the Draconian, no East Rali, a warrior of the Atlantis, plunging down after her.She saw her blue-white wings erupt from her back, and a vision flashed as East reached down to her.

_Two young girls stood together in the face of Atlantis burning.One had gray hair with red eyes, while the other had shimmery light blue hair and hauntingly dark blue eyes.The girl with red eyes had yellow-white wings, while the dark blue-eyed girl had light blue-white wings.A small boy was between them, the crest of the kingdom of Fanelia written in the stars._

"East…" Hitomi trailed off as East grabbed her hand, then reached out and enfolded her in a protective embrace.She felt herself rising again the soft flap of East's wings sending out bits of bluish-silvery feathers.She watched as East flew towards where Merle had a shocked look written all over her face.East knelt down and picked her up.Hitomi watched as she flew towards one of the spots on the Crusade and they set down gently, dropping her and Merle to the floor as she straightened again, her tall imposing form told anyone that saw her that she wasn't messing around.

Hitomi stifled a cry as she saw the enemy guymelefs leave Van and Allen and came towards her, ready to kill her."Van…Allen," Hitomi watched as both the Scherazade and Escaflowne limped towards them, still ready to fight.

"Stop," East held up a hand and everyone stopped, including Van and Allen."Do you know who you are messing with?"

"Yeah, the bitch that King Abira messes around with…stupid Draconian bitch," one of the guymelefs replied, a young voice, no more than his late teens Hitomi assumed.

"I am Lieutenant-Delmi East Rali, daughter of Caeli, heir to the Atlantis throne.This is one bitch you don't want to mess with," East said in a very deadly quiet voice that spoke volumes.Hitomi noted that East's wings were flickering in a gesture that suggested anger and someone who was not in the mood to joke.

"Says who," the same Peridian guymelef replied.

"Die," East shot back and Hitomi recoiled a bit as she saw East's eyes flare up with intense power and some kind of energy ball shot out of her hand and towards the guymelef, promptly blowing it up.Hitomi saw the other enemy guymelefs retreat a few feet, aware at their opponent.

"Return to your master, Princess Scina.Tell her that I issue a challenge and will be ready to face her at the Wandering Earth when the dark creatures move," East commanded and Hitomi watched as the enemy guymelefs meekly flew away.

The ship suddenly rocked as the Crusade flew up and towards a flat plain then landed none too gently.Hitomi glanced up at East, a newfound respect for the girl, or woman, or whatever she was.

***

Van couldn't believe his eyes as he saw East take out a single guymelef with whatever the bright object she threw at him.He landed his Escaflowne gently onto the ground then ran a swift check to see if it received any damages.Thankfully none were too serious.Hopping down from his perch he ran towards the _Crusade, where East was flying down with Hitomi and Merle in her arms._

As soon as they set foot onto the ground Van ran over and embraced Hitomi, hugging her tightly."I'm sorry…" he whispered into her ear, "I couldn't save you."

"Its okay Van…I love you," Hitomi replied and Van nodded then released her just as Merle jumped her way into his arms and licked him on the cheek like she always used to do.

"Are you guys okay?" Van asked, as Merle released him the stood next to him.He glanced over to see Allen walking towards them, the rest of the crew milling behind him, all of them eyeing East carefully.

"Yes, we're fine, East saved us," Hitomi replied and Van turned his gaze to the Draconian.She looked regal and held an aura of power and loyalty around her.

"Thank you East," Van replied, then glanced at Allen who had cleared his throat.

"East…" Allen started then trailed off.

"Yes, Knight of Caeli, you were honored in my father's name," East replied and Van saw shock written over the knight's face.

"King Van de Fanel," East suddenly addressed him and Van raised an eyebrow as East bowed down to him, her wings forming a cloak of sorts around her black bodysuit, "I lied about something…I am your blood relation, I am part of your Draconian blood.I am your mother's sister.Now I ask of you; let me serve Fanelia and serve you as your knight."

Van stood there, rooted with shock. This warrior was part of his bloodline?She was an heir to Atlantis?She was his…aunt?He blinked a bit, trying to keep his composure in light of the recent events.First there was the Wandering Earth problem, then the problem with Chamber's betrayal, then the Peridians, and now, this, a long lost relative.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Allen and most of the crew of the Crusade blink a bit, still wary of the Draconian warrior.He darted a swift glance to Hitomi and Merle and saw that both of them had passive looks.Looking past Hitomi and Merle he saw Gyei in the shadows near the gaping hole in the _Crusade_; his knight nodded an assurance to him.Returning his gaze to East who was still bowed before him he cleared his throat softly, "Lieutenant-Delmi East Rali…if you wish to become a knight of Fanelia, then stand up follow your king unto death."

He watched with solemn eyes as East stood up, loyalty and pride in her eyes.She saluted him in a way that he had never seen before but felt familiar with it.

"The Draconian salute…" Gyei whispered loudly, and Van glanced at him.He saw distrust and wariness in his most loyal knight's eyes and realized that Gyei didn't know that he was a Draconian also.He would have to talk to him later before they moved out.

Van nodded his assent to East then turned to Allen, "We'll need to repair the Crusade as fast as we can, before the Peridians decide to send along a task force to decimate us."

"The crew can handle the repairs, but we'll need to get a message to Asturia, maybe even Freid," Allen replied, one of his white gloved hands resting on his chin.

"No…not Freid," Van murmured then turned to face Allen, "Allen, can you swiftly get a message to Asturia once the Crusade is repaired?Tell them to prepare their forces.I have a feeling that the Wandering Earth is just about ready to become active, and if it is enemy guymelefs the Wandering Earth is spitting out, then I don't want Asturia to fall defenseless and unprepared."

"What about you?" Allen asked.

"I'll take Escaflowne, and head to Fanelia.Hopefully I can get the situation with Chambers under control and meet you near the Wandering Earth.We must stop this at all costs.We can't let Gaia be dragged into another war," Van explained.

Allen nodded and Van turned to Hitomi and Merle."I need you two to stay with Allen-"

"No way!" Merle and Hitomi both protested at the same time.

Van shook his head; "I can't have you two getting hurt in the midst of all this.Chambers might be dangerous and who knows if he has an army raised against Fanelia.If anything happens…"

He trailed off as he watched the two women he loved with all his heart, one as a sister, and the other as his true love, looked subdued at his unfinished words.He realized that they understood his dilemma, they understood him more than he gave them credit for.

"Please…Van…be careful.I sense something very wrong within Fanelia," Hitomi warned, then stopped as Gaddes approached with a harried look on his face.

"Boss, bad news.First, the _Crusade took some deep hits, and we can't repair it without Asturia's facilities and a whole lot of money.Second," Gaddes hesitated for a minute then plowed on, "we've got a big problem…really big."_

Van frown grew deeper as he heard Gaddes' report.

***

Allen sighed softly as a light breeze blew over him, ruffling his long blonde hair.He tucked a few strands away from his eyes and leaned against the hull of what was once his precious _Crusade.The ship had served well with him for over 8 years, and now, it had to meet a fate like this._

He had taken Gaddes' advice into consideration for sacking the ship for anything vital and building something small out of the parts that would be able to fly to Asturia to rally up an army.And now, the _Crusade looked like an animal with no skin, just bones…one of his hands tightened into a fist as he glanced up at the clear night sky.It had taken his men a day to rebuild something small…something that would be able to transport his men, Hitomi, and Merle._

"Boss?" Gaddes' voice interrupted his musings and he turned around to face his second-in-command."Preparations have been completed…um…what do you want to call this ship?"

Allen gazed back at the stars and noticed the faint glow of the Mystic Moon in the half-moon sky."_Mystic Moon," he replied a bit forlornly then glanced back at Gaddes, "tell the others to get aboard.We'll need the fastest speed to Asturia, so we can help Van when he arrives at the Wandering Earth."_

"Yes sir," Gaddes replied then headed off in the direction of their new ship, half the size of the _Crusade, but still equipped with the speed of the former ship._

Allen walked towards his new ship, the _Mystic Moon, which had barely enough room to fit his Scherazade within, then stopped for a second and glanced back at the husk of the __Crusade."So long…old friend," he whispered to his former ship before turning back around and walking towards the __Mystic Moon.He knew that Van had already gone ahead, and if everything were okay with his kingdom, then they would rendezvous with the Asturian Army near the Wandering Earth to stop this new evil._

***

East sat near the tail-backbone of the dragon-mode Escaflowne, trying to hard to avoid Gyei's constant gaze at her.Ever since she had revealed herself as a Draconian, he had regarded her with suspicion, but the odd thing was that Gyei didn't regard Van with the same suspicion, leaving her with puzzlement over the matter.She furrowed her brow and stared silently at a part of Escaflowne's tail, the wind whipping her light blue hair behind her.It was the twisted history that made Draconians evil, but it was also the twisted Draconians themselves that made history speak for itself.

She closed her eyes to meditate, and immediately fell into a trance-like state.Breathing evenly, she felt her psychic world expand deep into her own past.It was something she didn't like to do, but she knew, somehow, it was vital in the near future.

_"Brother…why do you have to go?You know that they hate us," she said, as her only family left was her older brother, since her sister had married off to the Kingdom of Fanelia._

_"I'm sorry East…but I have to try to reason with them, even if I have to sell my soul to the Darkness that consumes them.Please try to understand East," her brother replied, his long light blue hair blowing against the wind on which the hill they stood upon was being ravaged by a freak storm._

_"Brother…no, don't!I can see-"_

_"East!" her brother cut her off sharply, "don't tell me what to do!Your prophecies are just mere child's play!I can see my own future and I don't care if the Darkness consumes me!I can't let them see us like devils anymore.We aren't the devils that our people were.We've repented!"With that, he ran off, leaving her in the harsh wind and rain, thunder rumbling overhead._

_"Brother!" East shouted against the howling wind then quieted as her brother's lanky form vanished into the distance."Have we really repented…" she whispered monotonously._

East snapped out of her trance as she felt the Escaflowne touch down in front of the Palace of Fanelia.She hopped off and the back of her skin immediately prickled with a sense of danger.It was a trap…and Van had fallen straight into it, she could sense it.She had to warn him to get out before…

"Milord-" she started before a soft mellow voice interrupted her.

"Welcome back Lord Van, we've been expecting you," the mellow voice greeted.

East suddenly found her throat all dry and she couldn't utter a single word as she stared at the man, standing in front of the doors to the Palace, a feral smile on his lips.

A man with light blue hair like her…"Brother."

***

"Milord!A ship approaches from the southern banks near Perid quadrant!It looks to be like the _Crusade!" a page burst into the throne room where Dryden and Millernia were sitting in, hearing a report made by one of their scouts they sent to the Wandering Earth._

Millernia immediately stood up, "The _Crusade?"Her heart leapt with joy and relief with the news.They were safe…they had made it back from the Wandering Earth and didn't even get hurt._

"Yes your highness…shall I tell them to come to you?"

"No that won't be necessary, we need to talk to them.Both of you are dismissed," Dryden suddenly spoke up, then took his wife's hand and led her from the throne room, towards the docking yard where the _Crusade was supposed to land._

When they arrived Millernia didn't see the _Crusade…she saw a small ship almost like the __Crusade, except-_

"King Dryden, Queen Millernia," Allen greeted as he stepped off from the small ship, bowing down.

Millernia noticed that Allen looked haggard, and exhausted.Beyond him she could see that the rest of his crew looked just about the same.Hitomi and Merle also looked beat.Had they gone into battle with the darkness spreading across the Wandering Earth?

"Your Highness," Allen addressed Dryden, "we need to raise an army to go against the Peridians and the darkness coming out of the Wandering Earth.Van has already gone back to Fanelia to stop a coup d'etat lead by Chambers, one of his advisors.When he is done suppressing it, he will meet us by the Wandering Earth with his army."

"The Peridians?They've attacked?" Millernia gasped in surprise.The war had begun again and she couldn't prevent it.

Allen nodded gravely, "The Peridians are somehow connected to the Wandering Earth; I don't know how, but Hitomi said she had an inkling.They attacked us without warning when we were returning to Asturia…" he trailed off as Dryden and Millernia looked slightly confused and realized that they didn't know the whole story.

"Your Highnesses, we were about to return to you when we discovered that Chambers was going to start a coup, and went to Perid to find Van.When we had got there, Van was just about to leave and we had started to piece together the complicated puzzle the King of Perid had given us when they started to attack without warning.The _Crusade-" Hitomi shot a glance at Allen and saw that he didn't have any expression on his face, "the __Crusade was destroyed in the process and we got here as soon as we could by salvaging the parts, forming the sister ship, the __Mystic Moon."_

"Oh Allen…I'm so sorry about your ship…" Millernia commented softly then stepped back slightly as Dryden made a noise in the back of his throat.

"We can't worry about the ship now…we have to prepare for an assault on the Peridians and gather a force that is great enough to repel the threat at the Wandering Earth," Dryden spoke curtly, but Allen heard a hint of compassion in the King's voice."Allen Schezar…will you lead this army?"

"As my lord commands, I will," Allen replied, bowing a bit then glanced at Hitomi and Merle who were standing a bit off to the side."Hitomi, Merle," he addressed the two girls, no, women, "you two will stay with the Queen.I can't have you going into battle…and I think Van would agree with me."

"Allen…" Allen saw fire blazing within Hitomi's eyes and recoiled a bit, "I _will_ go with you.Van will need my help and…" she looked a bit worried, "I don't want any of my visions to come true if I'm not there to prevent it."

"I'm going too Allen.You can't make me stay," Merle chimed in and Allen sighed then turned back to Dryden and Millernia for help.He cared for the two of them, Hitomi especially and he didn't want them hurt or anything.

"Merle and Hitomi can stay with me when we attack.I will need their assistance to treat the wounded during the battle," Millernia said and Allen's eyes widened a few inches._She was going into the battle also?Did Dryden allow it?He shot a quick look at Dryden and saw that indeed he didn't allow it, but Allen knew that Dryden would always have a few people around to spirit his wife away if any sort of danger arose during the battle._

"I…understand," Allen said after a few minutes of pause then faced Dryden and saluted with his sword, "As a Knight of Caeli, I will defeat this evil that is amassing."

***

_Chapter Ten - Blood Calls to Blood_

Van frowned as he heard East whisper "Brother…" to the man with blue hair…who in actuality looked a lot like her.Which could have meant that Letkus Astian, one of his advisors, was her brother and his…uncle?He shook his head slightly.This was getting out of hand…

"My Lord, you are back from your journey early.Did any of the other kingdoms want to ally with us?" Letkus asked, his mellow voice composed and calm.Too calm for Van's liking as he walked up towards Letkus then past him as he entered into his castle and made a beeline to the Council room where he suspected all of the Council members would be waiting for him.Chambers' rebellion had gone too far.

He sensed that East and Gyei were following him and felt hatred pouring off of East, directed at Letkus.If Letkus was her brother…and his uncle…he didn't show any sign of it.

Van narrowed his eyes as he walked, no he was stalking by now, towards the wooden doors to the Council room and pushed it open, letting the doors slam into the walls as he saw all eleven Council members sitting in their seats…with the exception of Chambers._Wait…_his mind started to register that the Council members weren't the ones the peasants elected…His eyes narrowed into slits as he saw Chambers sitting at the head of the table, languidly swirling around a glass of wine as he was talking to a few of the senators next to him.That seat was supposed to be his…the royal seat…

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Letkus take his seat and signal Chambers.

"Ah…King Van.So good to see that you are well and back from your journey," Chambers started in a smooth voice, and Van noticed that his eyes seemed to be hungry…hungry for what?

"Chambers what is the meaning of this?" Van started, trying to control his anger as his right hand clenched into a fist.

"Why Lord Van…the meaning of what?" Chambers feigned innocence then let loose a wicked grin that he did not like, "you see…_my Lord, you have lost power and favor during your absence-"_

"You instigated a rebellion behind my back Chambers.You and the Peridians are overthrowing Fanelia.For what?For conquest?For your own gain?" Van shot back, his rage now controlling him, but he didn't care.He had worked hard to rebuild his country and now some fool would come and take that from him?"Guards…arrest Gerowyn Chambers on the charges of treason, rebellion, and injustice," Van commanded in a loud voice.

No one made a move.

Van looked around and saw that some of the guards remained where they were while others had smirks on their faces.He realized that Chambers killed all of his loyal guards and replaced them with his own Peridian guards, people that were loyal to Chambers only.

"You see Lord Van…you've lost power," Chambers sneered then waved a hand at the guards, "arrest the King and his two knights."

Van put a hand to the pommel of his sword but didn't draw it out.He caught Gyei's eye and shook his head as the guards loyal to Chambers surrounded them, their swords drawn and ready to use if necessary.

"Take them to the dungeons," Chambers ordered.

"Leave the girl here," Letkus suddenly spoke up and Van gave a sideways look at East.She looked about ready to explode with anger, but Van shook his head._You have to be calm…he thought silently, hoping that with her powers she would be able to read what he thought._

"King Van…" Chambers suddenly called out as they were being led out, "do you know why I took over Fanelia?"

Van just only glared at him.

"For Escaflowne, my dear King."

***

East watched with wary eyes as Van and Gyei were led out then glanced back to where the twelve Council members were sitting, all who were leering at her, except her brother and Chambers.She knew that she could easily kill all the guards in the room and maybe some of the senators but she would have to be wary of her brother.

"Guards and Council members, leave us," Chambers suddenly ordered and East saw that some of them hesitated, but then complied with the order.

She watched as they all filed out, some grumbling in the process.When the doors shut behind them she shot her glare back at Chambers and her brother."What do you want," she seethed as she tried to break the chains the guards had put on her before them left.

"Don't bother East, you won't be able to get them off," her brother said, rising out of his seat and walking towards her."They're made of a special metal that I found in the remnants of Atlantis."

"You've turned traitor Alseides Caeli," East said sadly, looking deep into her brother's eyes to see if anything of her brother remained instead of the cool look she got.

"Alseides Caeli is dead.I am now Letkus Astian," her brother said in an icy cool voice then suddenly grabbed her by the chin and lifted her up slightly.

East felt her air supply cut off and she struggled silently, all the while glaring at the demon that was her brother.She felt inner rage building within her and channeled that power to her hands, which were bounded together.

"So pretty…yet so vulnerable," Letkus purred and East intensified her glare.

"You are a demon.Alseides Caeli would never-"

"He is dead.As will you be," Letkus replied and started to squeeze her neck.

East saw white spots that turned gray then black and she struggled within his vise-like grasp.She had to get out.She had to stop her brother from causing any more damage to the kingdom of Fanelia.Suddenly, East had a vision…

_There were two conquerors of Gaia…she could see their faces so clearly now.Scina Abira was the female conqueror and her brother, no…the Traitor was the male conqueror._

East shook her head slightly as the vision ended and she felt her hands tearing apart the bonds that held her tight.They suddenly broke and East flipped herself from Letkus' grasp, kicking him in the chest in the process.

She landed lightly then glanced up at Letkus whose face was a mask of fury.

"You little bitch…" he seethed then charged at her, his sword drawn.

East ducked underneath a swipe and kicked him in the groin area then back flipped to a wall where a few swords where hanging for decoration purposes.East pulled one out and held it in an en guarde position, her feet drawn back, her stance ready and poised for any attack.

She parried an attack that would have taken her head off and retaliated with a lighting quick kick.Before the kick was finished she thrusted with one hand, aiming her sword for Letkus' right arm and managed to draw a long gash before she rolled out of the way.

She stopped as she crouched lightly on the balls of her feet, and watched him warily as he examined the wound then turned his glare on her.East narrowed her eyes as she saw that his eyes were a glowing blue color.He was going to power into his ki-battle mode and she knew that he was very dangerous when in that mode.

She held up her sword and watched as he ran towards her, one hand held out a white ki-ball forming.He shot the ki-ball at her and East powered up her own, intercepting his with a fiery explosion.She suddenly held up her sword as Letkus took advantage of the explosion and slashed at her.

East ducked and parried then flipped onto a wall and spread open her wings as she took flight into the high ceiling of the Council room.She fired two ki-balls at Letkus who was still on the ground and watched as they impacted where he was.

"You fight very well…still haven't lost that touch since we last talked," he suddenly spoke from behind and she spun around surprised.

She watched with horrified eyes as Letkus slammed a ki-ball into her chest, sending her to the ground.The last thing she saw was her brother's evil, twisted face, laughing at her.Then all was black as she fell into unconsciousness.

***

Chambers watched the battle going on with earnest interest.She was a beauty to behold, even prettier than the Princess of Perid was._East Rali…he rolled the name around his head.It was a weird name, but why did that matter since she was so sensual, and a terrific fighter, he shrugged slightly._

She was perfect, in his opinion, perfect to be his queen when he ruled Fanelia.Now they've only need to _convince her, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be too hard.Her brother was already doing quick work on his fighting skills to break her and he only need to brainwash her._

He smiled as she was knocked out and snapped a finger to a guard that had hid in the shadows."Get the other prisoners and bring them to me outside the castle."

The guard nodded and Chambers watched as Letkus resheathed his sword and sat down at the other end of the Council table.He watched his second-in-command with an appraising eye."You're still the same with your combat skills…but fighting your sister, I didn't think you had the guts to do it," he tried not to meet his fiery blue-glowing gaze.

"Alseides Caeli is dead.I'm not fighting my sister; I am just fighting a ghost that should be dead," Letkus said in a calm controlled voice as his eyes returned to their normal color.

Chambers nodded sagely then stood up and motioned to a guard to pick up East Rali's limp body."Take her outside along with the other prisoners.We will demonstrate the might of the kingdom of Perid with Escaflowne as a present to me."

"Sire," the guard replied then picked up the warrior's limp body and left the room.

Chambers turned back to Letkus, "You are of blood with the King, I presume."

"Sire," Letkus nodded curtly as he stood up, now the cool and composed council member that had supported him for a long time.

"I've heard that Dilandau, when the Zaibach Empire was still alive, tried to activate Escaflowne and wasn't successful.Then Lord Folken Strategos tried and was successful.Later, it was revealed that only people of blood to the Fanel line are able to activate Escaflowne-"

"And you want me to, since the others might not be so willing," Letkus finished for him then laughed lightly, "do not concern yourself my friend.King Van and I share the same blood.Fanelia will have a new ruler…you."

Chambers nodded then swished his cloak around him as he walked out of the council room, an evil smile on his face.Now with King Van as his prisoner, Escaflowne his, he would be able to conquer Perid and then the whole planet.

***

Van sat on a wooden bench that was a bit rotten, his head hung low.How could he have been so foolish?Walking in there and demanding that Chambers return the throne to him when he didn't think about his loyal followers being wiped out already._If only…he sighed irritably and clenched his hands into fists._

"You are of a special bloodline, my Lord.The Draconians are smart, and very good at escaping," Gyei suddenly spoke up across from Van and he glanced up to see his knight, looking at him.

"Don't forget, I'm half human," Van snorted lightly then looked at Gyei, his head tilted a bit, "how did you know I was Draconian?"

"I knew since your mother gave birth to you.But I had turned a blind eye on it because of the rumors.When East arrived, I recognized her from her similarity to your mother.I knew then and there that my soul was sold to become your knight and protect you from making mistakes like your ancestors did," Gyei replied softly and Van nodded fractionally.

"Then…why hostility-"

"It wasn't hostility, milord.I apologize.It was unease.Your mother was serene and pure, unlike the other Draconians…but East…she seemed to be like the hostile Draconians and I was suspicious of her," Gyei rubbed his brow, a sign that he was embarrassed, "but now…she is a knight like me.And all knights have their own code, regardless of their backgrounds or past actions."

Van nodded as he remembered Balgus teaching him the Knight's Code when he was younger.He opened his mouth to speak when the clomping footsteps of a guard coming towards their cell stopped him.He watched as the guard unlocked the cell door and then gruffly pointed a sword at them.

"Move it.Lord Chambers wants to see you guys," the guard ordered and Van slowly got up, glaring at the guard.

He walked out, sensing Gyei behind him, ready to defend him if anything happened.As he walked past the guard, Van gave a long look at the guard and saw slight hints of sorrow within the guard's eyes and realized that Chambers had killed the guard's family just to turn him.

"Peace," Van whispered softly to the guard that had opened their cell door before catching another guard's eye who motioned them to follow him.

***

Hitomi glanced through the viewport of the ship, Mystic Moon, watching as the ground whizzed by them.Allen was headed towards Fanelia to see if Van was able to scrounge up an army while the rest of the fleet, commanded by Dryden was headed towards the Wandering Earth.She felt that something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint it.She had a feeling that they were wrong about the male conqueror and she didn't know who it was.

"Hitomi?" Merle's voice spoke up beside her and she jumped slightly in surprise.

"Merle…you scared me," she replied then saw that the cat-girl looked anxious, "what's wrong?"

"I'm worried about Lord Van.I know that East and Gyei will protect him, but…"

Hitomi enfolded the cat-girl in a hug, "Don't worry Merle.Have faith in Van.If it comforts you, I'm also worried, but I try to follow my instincts, and they tell me that Van will be all right."

"Thanks Hitomi," Merle replied as Hitomi let go of her then glanced once more out of the viewport.

She suddenly felt a tightening of her heart and doubled over in pain as flashes of a black thing whizzed before her eyes.There was something familiar about the black thing, yet it was so foreign…and evil.

Hitomi barely heard the concerned voices of Millernia, Allen and Merle as she clutched her head, trying not to give into the pain.In the midst of it, she saw Escaflowne, one white…the other black._Van! She silently cried out in desperation._

***

Van watched with narrowed eyes as he stood in front of his Escaflowne, which was surrounded by heavily armed guards.Peasants and crowds of people gathered around, some hushed some crying, some silent.He and Gyei were forced to kneel and watch as first a guard came out with an unconscious East and threw her next to them…then Letkus came out, his two clawed arms raised outward in a pose of victory.Now…Van gritted his teeth in anger as Chambers came out himself.

"Traitor," he growled as Chambers passed by then felt a stinging blow to his right temple as Chambers hit him with the pommel of his sword…the royal sword that he had taken from him when they were escorted to the cells.

"My Lord!" Gyei said, looking at him in concern as he struggled against his bonds.

"Its all right Gyei," Van replied tersely as he felt something drip down the side of his face and tasted a bit of a coppery taste in his mouth._Blood…he thought silently as Chambers walked on then stopped as he approached Escaflowne.He handed the royal sword to a guard who accepted it with shaking hands._

"For those in oppression, today is a great day!Escaflowne will now become the symbol of Perid.No more of oppression by the Fanel line.And in celebration of this," Chambers gestured widely with a hand towards the dormant Escaflowne which was in its standing-mode, "Escaflowne will be opened and a new ruler will take over."

Van watched the crowd…some of them seemed to fear Chambers, while others were angry.He realized that Chambers didn't have full control of Fanelia, and most of the peasants were loyal to him and opposed Chambers' tyranny.

"No!Brother don't!" East suddenly shouted as she pulled against her restraints.

Van watched with horrified eyes as Letkus walked up some stairs and towards Escaflowne's drag-energist heart.He realized what Letkus was going to do."Don't!You'll kill yourself!" he shouted, hoping to at least knock some sense into Chambers' subordinate, but found his words unable to reach his ears.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion as he saw Letkus placing his hand on Escaflowne's drag-energist heart.Energy splayed out in different directions as Escaflowne began to glow.He felt a gnawing pain erupt around his heart…then suddenly become full-blown.Time sped up and Van collapsed onto the ground, his hands clawing at his heart as he felt like it was being squeezed so hard that it would burst.The pain spread all over his body and he felt phantom fires racing up and down his veins, trying to tear him apart.He vaguely noticed that some of the guards were racing to help him, East and Gyei unbounded and kneeling over him.His vision was hazy as the pain intensified and he tasted a copper liquid in his mouth._I'm bleeding…internally…he realized as he felt his connection to Escaflowne being split apart…into two._

The pain suddenly lessened and Van found his throat raw and realized that he had screamed his pain out.But he didn't care.He focused on keeping his breathing even and noticed the concerned shouts from his knights and some of the guards that had abandoned their posts.

"Lord Van!"

"My King!"

"Milord!"

"Lord Van, are you all right?"

Van pushed away their concerns and stood up on shaky legs as he tried to steady his haggard breathing.He felt dizzy, but managed to stand on his feet then glanced up and his eyes widened a few inches in shock.

There were two Escaflownes.

One pure white.One _liquid black._

One good.One evil.

***

East also watched with horrified eyes as two Escaflownes stood next to each other.She realized that the evil within her brother…no, just like he said, Alseides was dead.The devil that was formerly her brother had created the Black Escaflowne, the evil version of Escaflowne that was part of the Ispano guymelef.

She stood up slowly and watched as Letkus walked towards Chambers, a smug look on his face.She balled a hand into a fist and glanced around, trying to see if there was anything she could do to stop that madman.She knew that some of the guards were loyal to King Van, but they were few in numbers and the guards that were holding her weapons and also Gyei's and Van's swords were loyal to Perid and Chambers._Damn…not good, she thought silently as she felt Van getting up, with obvious pain, behind her._

"Milord.Don't move; you're injured," East held up a hand to stop him.She knew the terrible affects his internal wounds were when merging with an Ispano guymelef…it had happened to her father before he died from it.

"Its nothing I can handle.Move out of the way, East," Van's voice sounded weak, but East heard determination within that weak voice and complied.

"Lord Van!" Gyei whispered out in concern.

"Leave him, Gyei.He is a warrior and a brave king.We'll need to support him as back cover," she replied, then suddenly glanced around as the peasants started to clear out.She grinned slightly as Allen came flying down from the _Mystic Moon, his Scherazade ready for battle.__Impeccable timing as always, Knight of Caeli, she thought wiry as her grin faltered and she glanced back to where Van was standing, glaring at both Chambers and Letkus._

***

Out of the corner of his eyes, Van saw the Scherazade, landing near the two Escaflownes, its sword drawn out and ready to take down any guymelefs."Surrender now Chambers," Allen ordered.

Van turned his gaze back on Chambers who had a look of contempt on his face.He didn't trust whatever Chambers had up his sleeve…plus he was still weak by Escaflowne's cloning.It was as if there were two different forces pulling at his soul and mind, trying to defeat each other for control of him.

"Why, Allen Schezar…you are in no position to issue that order," Chambers drawled lightly, "I am king now."

"No you aren't, Chambers," Van replied curtly then stepped forward and stared down as much as he could since Chambers was a bit taller than him, "you are a traitor, a spy, and a murderer.You kill so many people of Fanelia that you dare call yourself a king of the people?"

"Its what all conquerors do," Chambers shrugged then smiled evilly at Van, "and it's now that my conquest is complete."

Van saw a glint of metal in Chambers' hand then watched as it flew from his hand and towards him.He knew that in his weakened state, he wouldn't be able to move fast enough, and even if he spread his wings out, he still wouldn't get off the ground as fast as someone like East would.

Suddenly a dark shadow stepped in front of Van and he heard the sickening stab of a sword into flesh.In a flash, Van realized that Gyei had stepped in front of him to take the blow, and now the sword point was completely through his back._Gyei…Van thought as he watched with horror filled eyes as his knight fell to the ground, the sword's hilt stuck through his chest._

It was then that the peasants and soldiers surged upon the platform they were on, all bent on getting revenge for their country being forcefully taken away.But Van didn't care as he knelt down next to Gyei, who had placed one hand on the hilt of the sword, a calm expression on his face.His breath was coming in ragged, and Van noticed that his eyes were slightly glazed over, a sign that he was going to die.

"Gyei…" Van grasped his knight, his friend's hand that was on the hilt.

"Its okay Lord Van…I knew that this day was going to come soon…" he smiled a bit, a trickle of blood flowing from his mouth, "I just didn't know it was going…to happen so soon."He coughed a bit as he laughed, then hissed in pain.

"Gyei, don't-" Van swallowed past a painful lump rising in his throat.Gyei was his knight, his protector, and his friend since Balgus had died so long ago.

"Don't worry…my King.Just," Gyei struggled with his words and Van could feel through his hand holding onto Gyei's that he was weakening…fast, "just…try to stay alive.H-…Hitomi…needs you…"

Van watched with blurry eyes as he saw Gyei smile then close his eyes.A small rattling breath escaped his lips and he felt Gyei's hand in his go limp.Van let go and watched as the hand fell limply to the ground._Gyei…thank you my friend…he thought silently as he stared at Gyei's calm face, a face of death.He didn't even care about the commotion around him as guards, soldiers, peasants, and even a few of Chambers' loyal guards rushed to arrest Chambers._

Gyei was dead…and someone would pay for it.

***

Hitomi watched from the viewport of the Mystic Moon as Gyei was talking to Van, all the while a pool of blood forming around him.She suddenly felt as if her heart had constricted and she glanced around wildly as the room suddenly became dark.

_She watched as the Death card spun around a few times then dissolved forming a moving picture.She saw a raging battlefield with guymelefs parts strewn about along with human ones.Fires blazed through the area consuming everything.Then suddenly a liquid shadow moved into the view followed by another…_

Hitomi suddenly snapped out of her trance as she took another look down where Gyei was laying and felt his life force drain away with her abilities._The Death card…that's what it meant…someone would die, and a liquid shadow…She glanced quickly to where the Black Escaflowne was standing…no, it had turned into a dragon, a black, liquid-like dragon and was flying away at top speed, but…_

"No!East!It will kill you!" Hitomi shouted vainly as she watched East fly towards the liquid Black Escaflowne.

***

East faintly heard Hitomi's warning as she flew towards the Black Escaflowne, where her brother was flying it, in dragon-mode.She flicked her wings and rose higher, catching a night-thermal that sent her soaring up and far.As she rose above the Black Escaflowne, East held out a hand and shot off two ki balls down where Letkus was piloting.

"Not good enough dear sister!" Letkus looked at her then held up a hand and fired off a ki-disk and East tipped her wings to avoid the energy disk.She then folded her wings close to her and dived down at Letkus, her eyes focused on Black Escaflowne's head and the controls for controlling it in dragon-mode.

"You are getting slow and weak, East Rali!Die!" Letkus shouted and East glanced behind her to see one of Black Escaflowne's claws suddenly merge into a liquid form of metal then change into a net.She tried to pull out of her dive, but it was too late.

East saw the liquid black net fall on top of her then the net covered her eyes and everything turned black.She felt a pulse through the liquid thing and realized that it was part of the Wandering Earth problem…and it was going to squeeze her until her bones were crushed and she was dead.She struggled within its deadly grasp and tried to free a hand out so she could fire a ki-blast, but the thing kept squeezing her like a predator snake-dragon in the woods of Asturia.

"NO!!" she yelled as she could feel her life force draining away…

***

Allen narrowed his eyes as he slashed downward with his sword, cutting the black liquid net that was holding East.He caught her limp form in his left hand then glanced up as the Black Escaflowne flew high above and away…

"No!Let me go!" East stirred in his hand as he flew down and gently set her to the ground then popped open the hatch to his Scherazade and hopped out.He ran over to the Atlantean knight and shook her shoulder.

"East…wake up," Allen shook her a bit.He watched as her eyes fluttered open and recoiled slightly as they were a fiery glowing red color."What the…"

"I have to go back," East suddenly sat up, her voice set and angry.

"No," Allen said forcefully as he placed a gloved hand on her shoulder, and turned the red glowing eyes towards him.He had never seen such a thing like that, and frowned.How did her dark blue eyes suddenly turn a fiery red all of the sudden?And who was that person that she was chasing in Black Escaflowne?

"Please move, Allen Schezar.I am a Knight, not to be coddled by you or anyone else.My brother must pay for his crimes of turning against my family," East replied and Allen's eyes widened a few centimeters in surprise.

Then that meant…Letkus Astian; the one that activated a double Escaflowne…was her brother?He shook his head slightly; "He is your brother?"

"My brother is dead, Letkus Astian, the demon, now possesses my brother's body," East replied curtly, but Allen could see that her eyes were softening to their dark blue color.She was beginning to regain control of her inner calm and he removed his hand from her shoulder.He watched as she wiped a few of the liquid black thing from her clothes and arms and realized that even though she was a tough nut to crack…there were still times where she was a vulnerable girl…no, woman.

"You're staring…might I ask what?" East spoke up and Allen blinked in surprise.He cleared his throat and then glanced over to where Van stood, Hitomi comforting him.Gyei's body was nowhere to be found…and neither was Merle.

_Gyei…Allen thought with sadness__…you were loyal to the end to your king…just like any other knight should.Even though he didn't know Van's knight very well, he knew that in his own way, he was going to miss a fellow knight that had honored their Code with fulfilling the utmost sacrifice to a king._

***

Hitomi felt safe and secure with Van's arms around her, but she also felt empty…she knew that Van must be suffering for Gyei's death, but she couldn't do a thing to help him. _I must be the rock that he anchors on…she thought to herself as she watched him looking around.She noticed that the various peasants and soldiers were trudging up to him, some bleeding in places, others a triumphant look on their faces.But where was Merle?She knew that the cat-girl and Gyei had a special friendship and wondered if she had gone off to cry out her sorrow alone._

"King Van!We've caught the traitor!" one of the peasants shouted and Hitomi let go of Van as he stepped forward to where Chambers was held by three heavily armed guards.

"Ha!One insignificant king and his country…" Chambers sneered then spit at Van's feet and Hitomi watched with worry for Van's reaction.She could feel his rage right now, but she reached deeper into his rage and felt pity for Chambers…a pity that he didn't really have when she first met him.He had changed a whole lot, she realized, but he was still the Van she knew, except more mature.

"Milord!What should we do with this traitor?" the same peasant asked, and Hitomi noticed that there was a hunger to kill in the peasant's eyes, along with some of the others in the crowd that was growing.

"Kill him!"

"Hang him!"

"Throw him to the brig!"

"Do to him what he would have done to us!"

She watched with growing dread as the crowd started to get rowdy and a few of the bolder peasants poked Chambers with sharp spears or pitchforks."No…they shouldn't be like this…" she whispered, horrified.

"Chambers must have been torturing them so badly when Van was gone…" Allen spoke up beside her and she glanced at him, surprised to see him supporting East who looked a bit weak, but was regaining her strength quickly.

"Stop it," Van suddenly spoke, his voice quiet, but it sounded like thunder through the crowd as they quieted down."Chambers isn't the only one that should pay…but we will not deal with him just yet.His fate will be decided after we deal with the Wandering Earth.Put him in the brig."

"But milord-" a few people protested and Van cut them off sharply with a chop of his hand.

"I know he killed my knight…your knight.But we have to think things through.But, if we don't stop the Black Escaflowne, who knows what might happen to Gaia…and Fanelia," Van replied and Hitomi watched as he looked at Chambers, "I feel pity for you, Chambers…pity that you followed your own ambitions.And now…look at what has happened."

She saw him turn around and walk towards them, his eyes focused on a goal, but she sensed something was wrong…but elusive.He turned around at the last moment and said in a loud clear voice, "Those that want to come with me to the Wandering Earth take over the Peridian-Fanelian guymelefs that Chambers brought with him.We will stop this evil that is getting ready to spread."

Hitomi watched as the people of Fanelia cheered then some of them rushed off to the Peridian-Fanelian guymelefs that were on the sides of the platform they were on."Van…" she whispered as he walked past them, touching her briefly on the arm and giving her a faint smile.

"Don't worry Hitomi," he replied and Hitomi nodded, but she still sensed something wrong.It suddenly hit her as she watched him climb up Escaflowne.His breathing was erratic and there were signs of pain and suffering hidden deep in his eyes.It was as if something was pulling him apart…

"No…its too dangerous for him," she whispered as she glanced at Escaflowne worriedly.She knew that she was also connected to Escaflowne, but not as heavily as Van was…Would it kill him?

"He'll survive, don't worry Hitomi," East placed a hand on her shoulder, "his soul is much stronger with you around."

Hitomi nodded numbly but she still couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom for the upcoming battle.

***

_Chapter Eleven - Revival of the Alseides/Black Escaflowne_

East steadied her feet as gripped the side of Escaflowne's cockpit as Van flew it towards where the Wandering Earth collected in dragon-mode, a small fleet of Peridian-Fanelian guymelefs following behind them in air-attack mode.The _Mystic Moon flew beside them and she could faintly make out the image of Hitomi and Queen Millernia standing by the viewport._

Merle had not come along and she knew that Van didn't want to leave her behind, but he also knew that it was for the best not to get her involved into the upcoming battle.East watched as Van piloted the Escaflowne with great skill, riding into the thermals that lifted the dragon higher into the sky and faster.She had heard that Escaflowne could go into a turbo-charge mode, flying even faster, but she didn't know if it was possible with the Ispano guymelef cut in half.

Glancing at Hitomi who had pressed her hands against the glass of the _Mystic Moon's viewport, she noticed a faint pink glow surrounding her.That same pink glow was also coming from Escaflowne's drag-energist heart and Van's chest where he kept her pendant.She realized that Hitomi was trying to heal Van through her abilities, trying to help him ease his pain and she smiled faintly.They were perfect for each other and they showed it too, even though it was sometimes subtly._

There was once someone like Van for her, but he had died when the Draconians were persecuted and wiped out.Marine loved the sea, and hence his name.He was peaceful, not like the other war-faring Draconians _and he had tamed her wild spirit.It was him that first caught her, and quite by chance when she was younger, she tested out her wings and fell…_

She snapped out of her trance as she felt something evil around her and realized that they were approaching where the Wandering Earth collected.Marine was gone, but she would fulfill his promise…a promise that she would kill his murderer…

"Looks like trouble found us first," Allen suddenly pulled up next to them in his Scherazade and East glanced out towards where the Wandering Earth was…a giant crater-hole in the ground where inky looking guymelefs were climbing out.

"Allen, tell your forces to try to hold off the front line guymelefs.My men are few in number, so they'll have to take a back guard.Also, East, get to Hitomi and tell her to try to locate the source of darkness that is coming from the Wandering Earth.If we could destroy that point, then maybe we can stop the evil from emerging," Van ordered and East nodded.

"Yes milord," she replied then spread open her wings and caught a night-thermal that shot her high above the Scherazade and Escaflowne.She flew towards the _Mystic Moon_, which was hanging around the back of the Fanelian Army, ready to take in any injured._Hitomi…_she thought to the girl as she closed her eyes and concentrated.She knew that she could send messages to others like herself through telepathic communication, but it was rare for her._Hitomi…pinpoint the evil…we'll need to destroy it._

She felt Hitomi's reassurance and then opened her eyes…just in time as she saw a massive ki-ball flying towards her from the ground. East swerved around it and glanced down to where the ki-ball flew from and saw an evil looking guymelef with sharp spikes and black liquid dripping over it._Scina…_she thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes.She drew out her sword, its serrated edge glistening dully in the full light of the Mystic Moon hanging overhead.

"Lets see if you are as good as Marine, East Caeli Rali!" Scina shouted to her and she gritted her teeth as the memories of the day Marine died came back to her, full force.

She saw the Princess standing above the dying body of Marine, a wicked grin on her face…Princess Scina's sword plunged down upon his body, making him involuntarily jerk up and then down…East watched with horrified eyes as the Princess wiped blood from her sword then turn around and walk away.

She snapped out of the flashback as she tipped her wings and plunged straight down to where Scina stood, in her guymelef which she knew was named the Crosswind…one of the first Ispano guymelefs to be made."I am better than Marine…and I will avenge the death of my _husband_," she whispered harshly as she pointed her sword downwards, plunging to the ground like a bullet.

***

Van watched as East flew towards a liquid black guymelef, her sword drawn out.He knew that she would be able to defend herself from a guymelef attack with her special powers…her abilities to fire a white energy ball.He wondered if that was one of the powers Atlantis was able to give to the Draconians before they were wiped out.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck prickled and her shifted Escaflowne to the side as a black blur flew between him and the Scherazade."What the…" he faintly heard Allen comment then glanced up to see the Black Escaflowne, hovering above him, its form eclipsing the moonlight.

"Allen!Take care of my men!Tell them to hold the line!I have some unfinished business to attend to," Van yelled to Allen before taking Escaflowne into a dive.

He glanced behind him to see Black Escaflowne following him and turned the harness that allowed him to control Escaflowne in its dragon mode, reverting it back to its 

'melef form.Van drew out his sword and held it in front of him, ready for battle as he saw the Black Escaflowne land in front of him, a few feet away, in its 'melef form.

"Why did you do it Astian?" he asked as he brought up his sword in a defensive position.

"The Draconians have been persecuted to this day!We must rise up and take back what was ours!We are the creators of Gaia, we are the ones that should rule it!It is you, a half breed that stands in our way!" Astian replied then yelled a battle cry and charged at him.

Van barely blocked the force of the blow, and cranked him arms upward as he pushed Astian back.He then ducked and slashed at his hip, determined to injure, but not kill one of his former advisors, his uncle, one of his own blood."It was because the Draconians destroyed everything.That's why they were persecuted," he replied, gritting his teeth in pain as Astian scored a flesh wound on Escaflowne's left arm.

The gnawing pain in the back of his head suddenly exploded as he cut along Astian's shoulder.He realized that his connection with Escaflowne was also within Black Escaflowne and whatever damage he can do to Astian, was also done to himself, except double the amount since he was also bonded to Escaflowne._I have to keep on fighting…I have to merge Escaflowne back together or else just destroy the two of them.There can't be a light and a dark…there has to be one or nothing_, he realized as he stepped back a little and felt blood running from the corner of his mouth.

At this rate, he knew that he would die from the double wounds he received from Black Escaflowne and Escaflowne, but he couldn't back out of the battle mode now…not with himself bonded to his guymelef so deeply.Deeper than when he was fighting the Peridian guymelefs that had attacked the _Crusade_.He had gone back to the level of pain he once knew so long ago when he almost defeated Dilandau.

"What's the matter, King Van?The pain too much?" Astian taunted then cut along Black Escaflowne's arm and Van winced as fire spread through his own left arm.

"Shut up," he growled then charged at Astian, swinging his sword like a halberd.He knew that he had to survive, for Hitomi's sake…he couldn't let Black Escaflowne's connection with him get in the way.

***

Allen jabbed the end of his sword into the stomach of one of the liquid guymelefs then pulled it out swiftly.He watched with a disgusted eye as the guymelef disintegrated into a puddle then glanced at the others who were engaged in combat with the other liquid guymelefs.So far, they were doing well, holding back the advancing force that was trying to pour out of the Wandering Earth, but Allen wondered if they would be able to hold on much longer.

When Van and East had left for their own battles, Allen had received word that some of the other kingdoms found out what was going on and decided to send some of their army in, trying to help Asturia and Fanelia.He had taken charge and ordered all of them to hold the position around the Wandering Earth and not to let any of the evil black guymelefs out of the perimeter they had set around.

He glanced towards the mountains that were surrounding the Wandering Earth and saw the _Mystic Moon_, partially hidden between two peaks.They didn't seem to be receiving any damage and he breathed a sigh of relief.He didn't want to have to face Dryden or Van if their beloveds were injured in some way.It would be tough to face two kings from different nations.

_Speaking of Van…_Allen thought then glanced towards the Wandering Earth where he saw Escaflowne battling the Black version of itself.He noted that Escaflowne was faltering a bit and didn't seem to hold up too well.Was it because of the liquid evil that was coming out of the Wandering Earth?_No…_he watched as Escaflowne faltered again under a sword swing that he knew Van could have easily blocked.Suddenly the realization hit him like a storm…Van's blood-bond with Escaflowne was within both the Escaflownes, not just the white one, but also within the black one.He realized that everything Van did damage to the Black Escaflowne he was doing damage to himself.

Then why was he going on?He knew that Van would want to protect his kingdom and Hitomi from any harm, but at the cost of his life?_He would do it…he almost did it before during the Gaia War three years ago_, a voice in Allen's head spoke and he nodded almost imperceptibly to himself.He knew that he had to help Van…but how could he without injuring Black Escaflowne and ultimately, injuring the young king himself?

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he swung around and parried just in time as a group of liquid guymelefs charged from behind, all bent on take him down.He flew high above them then dived down in a classic plunge of suicide; except he stopped cold as he hovered mere inches from the ground.Looking up, he saw one of the guymelefs suddenly burst apart into two halves as it was sliced through from head to its watery feet.Allen then spun around and brought his sword around to block an attack from his back.He jammed his elbow at the face of the one of the guymelefs and smashed its faceplate in.

Allen froze has he heard the faint cry of a dying man inside of the guymelef's faceplate that he had just smashed.There were Gaians in there…he realized as he deactivated Scherazade's floating ability and stepped back a little.He frowned as he took a good look at his remained opponents.They were hovering in the air like Zaibach's guymelefs…the Peridians!He realized that the Peridians were the ones covered in the liquid black things, and were somehow taken over by the evil aura the liquid gave off.

"This is Allen Schezar to attack fleet.Do not destroy the guymelefs, only disable it.There are soldiers in the guymelefs we've been fighting and we need to keep them alive," he spoke into a general broadcast to the rest of the Gaian Army.

"What?Are you sure-"

"Schezar! What are you trying to do?"

"They'll kill us!We can't show them any mercy!"

Allen shook his head even though he knew no one would be able to see him to that, "The main enemy is the liquid black thing that have been covering the Peridian guymelefs.We can't go around slaughtering soldiers like we did in the Gaia War those years ago.Or have you forgotten about that ever since Zaibach had cast their Zone of Absolute Fortune on you."

He heard silence on the open channels and smiled grimly as he knew he had struck a nerve within the soldiers.The new soldiers that had taken up guymelef training knew about what had happen during the last few hours of the Gaia War, and the veterans were now reminded of the shame of their actions that had killed thousands of lives from different kingdoms.Allen also felt a pang of shame since he knew that it was himself that had wanted to fight Van and he had let that cloud his senses…but he also knew that it was for justice as he was trying to protect his sister Celena.

It was also Hitomi who had saved the two of them from meeting their Makers and now he had to repay the debt that he had owed to her and Van…but how could he with Black Escaflowne's blood-bond to Van?He frowned as he gaze focused on the _Mystic Moon_.Then suddenly the air around his second ship exploded into a bright blaze of blue-white fireworks._No!Millernia!Hitomi!_Allen thought with anguish as he saw the _Mystic Moon_ flying towards the gaping hold of the Wandering Earth at a rapid rate, its tail end burning up in flames.

"No!" Allen yelled then made a move to stop the ship.

That's when they attacked.

***

Hitomi could feel Van's pain within her, even though it was faint.She knew that she had a special connection with Escaflowne and with Van, but even this was too much.The pain inside of her was like someone gnawing at her, occasionally hurting her, but just gnawing at her like a terrible cough that she couldn't get out.

"Hitomi?Can you help me bandage this patient?" Millernia called out, her voice a bit strained and Hitomi jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Oh…sorry Millernia," she apologized then went over to where the Queen was and helped her.She studied Millernia's face and saw a haunted look on her face."What's wrong?" Hitomi asked as she finished the last wrapping around and quickly tied the end into a knot.

"I'm…its nothing," Millernia looked away for a few seconds then glanced back to her and Hitomi saw her eyes were tear streaked."I'm afraid, Hitomi.I'm afraid that this evil is worst that Zaibach.I mean, look at all the patients that have been shipped to the _Mystic Moon_…some of them I know.Some of them were the best guymelef pilots around Gaia.And right now-"

"You wonder if Allen is going to be next," Hitomi finished for her then reached out and gripped her shoulder, "Allen won't fall.I'll see to that."She gave the Queen a small smile then suddenly squeezed her eyes tightly closed and hissed a bit as she felt the pain explode again.It was worst than the last one and she reached deep into it to feel where it came from._Van…_she silently pleaded as she saw that the pain was coming from Van's left hip.She saw a small river of blood flowing from an unknown source and within that blood the black liquid thing was also mingled within.

"No…" she hissed out loud then stumbled to her feet and cracked open an eye to watch the battle between Escaflowne and Black Escaflowne.Indeed there was a massive gash along Black Escaflowne's left hip and Escaflowne was now stumbling back…slightly disoriented.

"Hitomi!" Millernia's voice seemed so far away as she retreated deep into herself.She had to stop this evil…she had to take away this evil._You can do it…_a soft, but familiar voice echoed in her mind and she reached deep into her mind.She felt a tendril of light; a warm bathing light that was in the deepest corners of her mind._I have to let the light out_, she thought to herself as she guided the tendril through the battlefield her mind's eye watching the various slaughtering that was going on.She saw a liquid guymelef being cut down by one of Cesario's guymelefs and then that same guymelef decapitated by another of the liquid black guymelefs.

She tried to ignore what was going on in the battlefield and guided the tendril close to the Wandering Earth.She felt the tendril hesitate, as it knew that this was a source of pure evil and it was very scared._Don't worry little one…_she whispered in her mind to the tendril of light as she directed it towards Black Escaflowne and Escaflowne._There is your target…Escaflowne will lend you its support…_she whispered then watched with her mind's eye as the tendril crept forward towards Black Escaflowne.

Suddenly the tendril slammed back into her mind and she felt dizzy.The whole room aboard the _Mystic Moon_ started to spin and she felt heat radiating around her.The last thing she saw before collapsing was the black hole of the Wandering Earth rushing up to claim her within its grasp.

***

East tipped her wings at an angle and dived towards Scina who was within the Crosswind."Die!" she yelled as she pointed her sword in a stance that she had learned a long time ago in ancient Japan, when Draconians were allowed there.She was an expert at a right-handed sword fighting, but she preferred to use her left hand and this was her Shiki Air stance.

"You think a pathetic attack like the Shiki Gatotsu stance would work on me?" Scina's echoey voice bounced from her faceplate as East dove out of the way of her Crosswind's sword.She caught the end of a dragon-wind and rose high above Scina's 'melef again.

"Marine taught me how to fight!But you killed him…you bloodthirsty murderer!" East felt her voice choke up at the last part then angrily swiped at her tears and gripped her sword until her knuckles were white.She was grateful that Van had stopped by the armory to pick up her belongings before they had set out to meet Allen Schezar and the crew of the _Crusade_.The sword that she was holding belonged to her husband and it was made from the rare crystals only found at the bottom of the sea that once surrounded Atlantis.

"Oh…I'm so sorry," Scina taunted and East narrowed her eyes fractionally.She held up and hand and powered up a ki-ball that was a bright yellow orange color.She shot it towards the Crosswind then dived towards it, folding her wings near her as she followed on the tail of her ki-ball that she had sent.As the ki-ball impacted, Scina lifted up her left wing and banked towards the Crosswind's unprotected neck.She positioned her sword in an arc and then at the last moment fired up a ki-ball with her hand that was holding the sword and channeled it to the Crosswind's neck.

East flew back as the resulting explosion nicked a deep gash in the left side of the Crosswind's shoulder and neck.She smiled grimly then turned at the sound of an explosion.With horrified eyes, East watched as the _Mystic Moon_ plunged from its hiding place behind the mountains and towards the gaping hole of the Wandering Earth.She faint saw someone fall from the back of the _Mystic Moon's_ burning end and realized that it was Hitomi, somehow unconscious.She immediately realized that her brother, in Black Escaflowne, had fired a ki-ball to destroy what the one thing Van held dear to him.

_Hitomi must have been interfering and attempting to cut off Van's connection with Black Escaflowne…_she thought to herself as she tipped her wings towards the Wandering Earth.

"Will you?Will you leave me?" Scina's frozen cold voice suddenly spoke up and she looked behind her to see the Crosswind, its eyes mysteriously glowing red, holding up its wicked looking sword, "You are willing to leave an opponent behind your back.If you do that, I'll have to slice you up just like I did Marine."

East tensed at her comment, feeling the familiar rage burning through her veins as she dug up the hatred that had been dwelling in her for a long time.

"Marine cried like a weakling that he was when I slowly killed him.He was stupid and naïve enough to leave me for dead on that seashore.I slowly killed him, watching as every drop of blood flowed into the sea…watching as his life slowly ebbed away.He was a stupid fool…"

"Shut up you bitch," East growled, as she turned towards Scina, aware that her rage had completely controlled her, but she didn't care.She knew that her eyes were glowing a red color, a sign that she was extremely angry and that her anger had completely consumed her."Just shut up and die," she whispered in a deadly cold voice as she prepared her sword, the tips of her wings flickering in anger.She yelled a war cry as she plunged down towards the Crosswind who seemed to have smiled in pleasure.In the back of her mind she thought, _I'm sorry Hitomi…but…miracles do happen_.

"Finally I meet the real Lieutenant-Delmi East Caeli Rali," Scina's laugh was one of pure evil.

***

_Chapter Twelve – Chains that Bind, Broken Forever_

Van could feel his life flowing away slowly and he knew that he was loosing a lot of blood to the battle that was going on.He stumbled a bit in his Escaflowne.He had just dealt Black Escaflowne a long wicked gash across its left hip and now he was paying the price for it._I have to survive_, he thought to himself as he steadied himself then glared at the Black Escaflowne, his breathing hard and labored.

"You know…you could just give this up.At this rate, you will die," Letkus taunted in a simple voice and Van growled in the back of his throat.

"I don't give up anything," he replied as he winced a bit.He let go of one of the controls for a moment and gingerly touched his left hip.It was bleeding all right…the deepest wound he had received so far since he started to battle Black Escaflowne.

He hoped that Allen and the others were faring well and took a quick glance towards where the _Mystic Moon_ was settled behind the mountains surrounding the Wandering Earth.

"Hmm…persistent aren't you, King Van?" Letkus purred and Van gritted his teeth.Enough was enough…he was getting sick and tired of Letkus' ramblings.

Van tried to even out his breathing, and ignored the fiery pain that was spreading throughout his veins and body.He closed his eyes and settled into a position that he had tried so hard to learn from his mentor Balgus.Van held his sword up near his right cheek then opened his eyes and gave a steely look at Black Escaflowne.He was going to stop this once and for all.

He charged at Black Escaflowne, bringing out his sword from its position to a swift charge, aimed at the head where the pilot sat.He focused his gaze on the glowing green eyes of Black Escaflowne and thrusted the sword towards the faceplate of the guymelef…

Van suddenly found himself floating in a light of yellow bubbles.He glanced around, wondering why was he here._What the heck?_ He wondered then turned around and saw Hitomi, her eyes closed and she was holding something in her hands."Hitomi?" Van asked, but she didn't answer him as she passed by him.

He got a glimpse at the thing that was in his hand and saw a glowing tendril-ball that was trying to break free.He realized that she was trying to help him, trying to ease the pain that he felt._Thank you Hitomi…_he thought as he watch her pass.

Suddenly another figure appeared and Van's eyes widened a few inches in shock as he saw Letkus standing in front of Hitomi, an evil look on his face.He watched as she let go of the tendril that was in her hand and watched the tendril make its way towards Letkus._No…_he realized that something was going to go wrong."No!Hitomi!Don't!"

But his calls went unanswered and he watched as Letkus' eyes briefly glowed a fiery red and he saw the weird energy ball thing appear in his hand.He reached out a hand to stop the tendril, or whatever it was; he had a bad feeling about it…

Van suddenly found himself back in the cockpit of Escaflowne.He heard an explosion behind him and turned to see the _Mystic Moon_ falling towards the Wandering Earth, flame burning near the back of the ship.But with Gaddes' fine-tune control over the ship, he managed to safely land near the edge of the Wandering Earth's deep pit.He breathed a sigh of relief then winced as pain shot up through his hip and ribs.Then he noticed something falling in the Wandering Earth._Hitomi…_he thought to himself as he faintly recognized the falling figure.He realized that Hitomi had somehow been knocked unconscious with the tendril thing she was guiding in the brief…whatever it was…and now she was falling into the Wandering Earth, where the heart of the evil was.

"Oh well…looks like that's one less psychic to worry about for the future of Gaia," Letkus sneered and Van turned and glared at him.

"You…" he seethed then suddenly brought his sword up to parry Letkus' sudden charge at him.He couldn't get to Hitomi and by the way things were, no one would be able to save her.Van waited for the impact of the sword, but felt none.A black shadow was blocking his view and he recognized the outline of the figure as his knight, Gyei von Colewrich's guymelef, the Tiberian.

"Gyei…" Van whispered as he stared at the Tiberian's cloaked back, the insignia of the Fanelian Kingdom on its back billowing in the wind.

"Lord Van!Save Hitomi!I'll handle Astian here," Merle's voice suddenly shouted from within the Tiberian and Van stared at the guymelef incredulously.

"Merle?!"

"Go, Lord Van!Go!" Merle's voice was somehow a bit deeper and Van snapped out of his stupor as he realized that Gyei's spirit had somehow taken control of Merle's body and used it to pilot his Tiberian.

He flipped a few switches within Escaflowne and it suddenly flipped into dragon-mode.Van caught a night-thermal, a dragon-wind, and dove down towards the Wandering Earth.He glanced behind him to see the Tiberian start a fight with Black Escaflowne, trying to prevent it from going after him._Thank you Gyei…Merle…_he thought as he plunged downwards, not caring about the screaming pain of his wounds.He had to save her…

***

Van caught the dragon-wind and plunged down towards where he could faintly make out Hitomi's falling form.He gripped the reins that controlled Escaflowne in its dragon-mode tighter and swerved around the levistones that were inside of the Wandering Earth.This used to be a hiding place for his brother's floating fortress back in the early days of the Gaia War, but it was now abandoned for a new evil to inhabit it.

_This evil has to go_; he thought grimly as he approached Hitomi's falling form then reached out with his hand."Hitomi!" he shouted, trying to wake her up."Hitomi!"

He gripped the two reins in one hand as he reached over and tried to grab onto Hitomi's uniform with his free hand.The dragon-wind was lessening, he could tell.He would only have one chance to grab her before Escaflowne completely lost its dragon-wind and fell.He struggled to keep Escaflowne aloft, "Hitomi!"

Van watched as her eyes snapped open suddenly then he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, the stretching on his injuries making him wince a bit.He pulled her close to him and looked deeply into her green eyes.

"A King should never lose his Queen," he whispered to her.

***

Hitomi blinked at his words and realized that Van was proposing to her.She felt slightly dizzy at the prospect, as if a flood of emotions swarmed their way into her mind.She felt happy, elated, joyful, and concerned at the same time.She knew that in her heart she wanted to marry Van, but she didn't expect it to be like this.Hitomi took a deep breath then let it out slowly.He had saved her again and she knew that she wanted to be with him forever.

"Yes…A Queen must stay faithfully at her husband's side, forever," she replied then was suddenly cut off as Van kissed her deeply.She could feel the electric tingle run through her mind then it suddenly ended as he parted from her.She felt a warm feeling erupt on her cheeks and realized that she was blushing."Van…" she whispered then noticed his wounds around his body and face.

"Van!You're injured!" she looked him over as he piloted Escaflowne in its dragon-mode straight up from where she was falling. It was a complete vertical climb and she could see that Van was having a hard time keeping Escaflowne in control and hold onto her at the same time.Suddenly she saw something above falling down towards her…

There was pure evil in the liquid drop that was falling towards her, she could see it.It was made from the evil that had not retreated when the Gaia War ended three years ago.And it was after her.

She ducked, trying to avoid the black drop…then a sudden swoosh of white appeared and Hitomi opened her eyes to see Van shielding her from the liquid rain that was falling on top of them with his white wings._Van…_she thought silently as she watch him struggle with Escaflowne.

"Faster…faster…" he whispered and Hitomi felt a shudder of transformation going within Escaflowne.She grabbed onto Van's waist and felt him shy away in pain, as Escaflowne suddenly burst into its rocket-mode and shot towards the open night sky.

They shot high above the battle in Escaflowne's rocket-mode and then suddenly the rockets disappeared and Escaflowne hovered in the night sky, its wings fluttering slightly.Hitomi released herself from Van and stepped back and took a real good look at him.

His rusty red shirt was a bit tattered on the back where his wings had broken through, but they did not rip his shirt apart.His wings were a pure white color, but…she bit back a cry of horror.Van was almost drenched in his own blood, various cuts and wounds on him from his battle with Black Escaflowne and the damage he had taken from his own guymelef."You're hurt…badly," she whispered as he turned around and gave her a faint smile.

"Don't worry Hitomi…it's not that bad," he managed to get out before doubling over in pain, almost loosing one of the reins that controlled Escaflowne.

Hitomi narrowed her eyes in anger and glared at the Black Escaflowne who was fighting with an unknown guymelef, but the guymelef had the Fanelian crest on the back of its cloak.She stood next to Van and placed a hand around his waist, avoiding the deep gash on his left side."Van…let me take the pain away from you," she whispered then placed her hand on his cheek.

"No…d-don't need you…to suffer too," Van managed to get out in between gasps but Hitomi shook her head slightly.

"A Queen must also bear some of the King's responsibility…don't worry Van," she whispered in his ear then closed her eyes and concentrated.She reached deep into her psyche and found the same tendril of light that had been thrown back to her._This time little one…I need your guidance_, she thought to it then lead it towards Van's psyche.She let the tendril go and suddenly felt all of Van's pain wash upon her.

It was as if she was thrown head first into a concrete wall at forty-five kilometers per hour.The pain poured over her wave, after wave and she felt her legs get weak, she was about to pass out when she felt something soft and feathery touching her and in her mind's eye she saw one of Van's wings trying to support her.She absorbed most of whatever Van was feeling and managed to crack open one eye as she was held close to him.

"Attack…B-Black…Escaflowne," she whispered before she closed her eyes again and concentrated harder.She knew that she had to get the two Escaflownes near each other for her to merge them together again.She knew that she had the power to do it; after all, she was connected to both of them psychically if not physically.

***

Van felt Hitomi's grip on him slacken and he looked down at her to see her unconscious by the pain she had absorbed from him.She had said to attack Black Escaflowne but what good would it do if she were injured in the process.He hesitated, wondering if he should follow what she had told him to do.He didn't want to see his beloved hurt so badly, especially since she was already unconscious. _I have to trust my own feelings…_he frowned slightly then glanced down to where the Tiberian was fighting Black Escaflowne.Merle, who was miraculously piloting the guymelef, had managed not to get a single scratch on her 'melef, but Van knew that she couldn't hold out for long, especially since she didn't have any training, and with Gyei's spirit within her, she was probably mentally exhausted too.

_Follow your feelings Van…trust me_, Hitomi's voice suddenly filtered through his mind and he stiffened as he saw images.

_He saw Escaflowne fighting Black Escaflowne, the two of them on a head on collision course…suddenly something happened that made Escaflowne become whole again.The Black and White flashed together and a blue column of light surrounded both guymelefs…_

Van snapped out of the vision and looked down at Hitomi who somehow, had an intense concentrated look on her face.With a stark realization, Van understood what Hitomi was trying to do._Yes…I trust you._

He twisted one of the reins on Escaflowne and its sword dropped out and the dragon's claw gripped it tightly.Even Escaflowne knew what it was going to do and Van guided it towards the battle between the Tiberian and Black Escaflowne.He held Hitomi closer to him as he dived down towards Black Escaflowne.

"Bring…together," Hitomi whispered suddenly and Van glanced at her for a moment before returning his gaze on the glowing green eyes of Black Escaflowne.He saw a glint of metal that was the Tiberian hopping back and he took the advantage to fold up Escaflowne's wings and the guymelef dropped like a stone towards Black Escaflowne.

As Escaflowne hurled towards the Black Escaflowne, a sudden column of blue light appeared and surrounded the two guymelefs…

***

Hitomi concentrated hard, as she could see with her mind's eye, Escaflowne diving down towards Black Escaflowne.She felt disoriented, like she was watching the whole proceeding from someone else's eyes, but that was a secondary concern to her as she focused on the power of Atlantis, and the powers that had been given to her.She knew that somewhere within her she had the ability to wipe out the evil that was crawling out of the Wandering Earth, but she didn't know if it was possible, until now.Now she was sure as with the tendril of light that she had guided…

Letkus Astian and the liquid things were afraid of her power…she realized when she was falling into the Wandering Earth.She knew then what she had to do to stop this new evil from consuming Gaia.She slowly opened her eyes and found that the drag-energist Escaflowne was holding in a claw was glowing brightly as was the pendent Van was wearing around his neck.

_Now…_a voice seemed to call to her and she completely channeled her power into both the drag-energist and the pendent.

A sudden blue column formed around the two Escaflownes and Hitomi closed her eyes again._Please let the two Escaflownes join as one…united to defeat all evil.Let Atlantis repent for what it has done…_she pleaded silently as she could somehow see the meshing of the Black and the White.She opened her eyes again and time seemed to slow down drastically.She saw Astian leaping out of the Black Escaflowne's cockpit, or what was left of it, and plunge down into the Wandering Earth.His head turned slowly and Hitomi recoiled slightly at the cold, death-like look he gave her…

Suddenly the blue column disappeared and Hitomi saw the world spinning before her eyes before she collapsed into Van's arms.

***

Allen yanked the arm of one of the liquid Peridian guymelefs off of the face of his Scherazade then glanced around to see if there were anymore for him to deal with.When he was about to fly into the Wandering Earth to save Hitomi, they had jumped him simultaneously.It had taken him a while for him to fight off the guymelefs, but he saw Escaflowne free itself from its battle with the aid of what looked like a Fanelian guymelef.Allen had faintly recognized the guymelef's design, but he knew that he had seen it before.

Minutes later Escaflowne came rocketing out of the Wandering Earth then suddenly hovered in the air when it plunged down at what looked to be a suicide run at Black Escaflowne.That's when he got the arm on the face of his Scherazade.

Allen turned and watched as the Escaflowne dropped like a stone towards Black Escaflowne who had turned its attention to the falling white object…he suddenly gasped slightly as a blue column of light surrounded both Escaflowne and Black Escaflowne. "That light…could Hitomi be?" he wondered out loud as he remembered the blue column of light that was the connection to the Mystic Moon.

He held up a hand against the bright glare of the column and squinted his eyes, trying to see what was happening with the blue column…Did Hitomi summon the blue light in order to transport the evil to her world?Or was the Mystic Moon calling her back in their greatest time of need?Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that some of the liquid guymelefs were reacting to the blue light…almost as if they were in pain he thought to himself as the glare became brighter.Just as it became blinding, the blue column suddenly vanished and Allen blinked in surprise at what he saw.

Black Escaflowne had disappeared and only the Escaflowne remained…but Letkus Astian was no where to be seen…

Suddenly there was a wailing sound that pierced the battlefield.Allen covered his ears against the horrible sound and looked around for the source.He saw that the liquid things were still withering in pain and realized that it was them that were making the noise.The wailing noise became louder and louder, until it was drowned out by an ominous rumbling.

Allen tried to steady himself as he felt the ground around him start to shake uncontrollably.He looked into the Wandering Earth and saw that the various levistones that were inside of it were glowing in an odd way._They're gonna explode!_ He realized with stark clarity then took a hasty look at his Mystic Moon.He saw most of the crew running towards the mountains, some of the other countries' guymelefs behind them, trying to protect them from the earthquake.Another tremor shook the ground that he was on and he activated Scherazade's flying mode.

He hovered in the air and looked to see East still engaged with an evil looking guymelef.They were fighting dangerously near the Wandering Earth, and the levistones were glowing brighter by the minute._I have to get her out…_Allen thought with grim determination as he flew towards the battle.

That's when the Wandering Earth exploded…

***

East knew that there was danger in the Wandering Earth when she saw Escaflowne emerge from its radical transformation in the blue column of light._I knew you could do it Hitomi…you have Atlantis' power within you…_she had thought when Escaflowne emerged, reabsorbing its dark counterpart.The odd thing was that her brother didn't seem to be anywhere and that worried her._But that's the least of my concerns now…now is the time in which I will kill Marine's murderer as a knight of Atlantis should._

She could see the ripples of tremors roll through where the Crosswind stood, but she didn't care, and she could tell that Scina didn't care either.She knew that with Escaflowne being whole again, its hidden power activated the levistones within the Wandering Earth and they began to react to the evil around it, setting themselves to explode to destroy the evil in one shot.And the liquid evil seem to understand that too as they wailed all their misery out.But Scina Abira's Crosswind didn't seem to do a thing…

_She must have been taken over by the darkness within her, just like Alseides was…_East thought then cleared her mind as she focused on her task at hand.In the back of her mind she could feel the explosion happening very soon and she had to plan out her attack quickly and precisely.

She caught another dragon-wind and flew high above the air where she settled herself into a familiar position of her Shiki Air Stance.East tipped her wings and folded them around her, not too closely, but not too far.She dropped like a boulder towards the Crosswind.Suddenly there was a loud explosion and out of the corner of her eye she saw the levistones explode at the same time, the destructive wave of fire and energy shooting out of the Wandering Earth and spread itself out.

East could feel the heat of the wave coming behind her and she steeled herself to concentrate.She was going to use it to her fullest-

Suddenly a metal hand clamped around her and she felt herself dragged from her target.She glanced up to see Scherazade's form and she narrowed her eyes in anger."Allen Sche-" she never got to finish as the wave of energy came blasting into the Scherazade full force.East felt the wind and heat around her, but it was much cooler than what she had expected as the Scherazade held her close.

After what felt like an eternity, she was released and East flew towards the faceplate of the Scherazade."Allen Schezar!How could you?How could you disobey the Knight's Code?!" she yelled at the golden faceplate, the tips of her wings fluttering in anger.

"Its not the only time I have disobeyed the code," was Allen's evasive reply and East felt herself actually liking his reply instead of getting angry.She opened her mouth to counter his bantering when suddenly she felt something hot and fiery impact her on the back, knocking her to the ground.

"East!" she faintly heard Allen's anxious call as she struggled to get up.She hissed a bit in pain as sand and dust bit into the ki-blast burn on her back.She took a quick look at her wings and found that they were undamaged then turned around to face her attacker.Her silent attacker and her silent attack.

"Princess Scina Abira…daughter of the Peridian kingdom, murderer of the Atlantis people during the Purges.You have lived too long," East pronounced slowly and quietly, holding her sword loosely as she stepped forward.

"Lieutenant-Delmi East Caeli Rali…daughter of Atlantis, killer of the human race during the height of Draconian power._You_ have lived too long," Scina murmured as she smiled a cat's smile, slinking forward then stopped and drew her stance which East had seen her do when she had killed Marine.

"The Anazati Slewing Stance…I see that you still use that," East said out loud then thought to herself, _you old crone…you only use your black magic to hide your real age.Can you actually defeat someone who is only considered a late twenties person in Gaian life? _"Since you use that, then I will use this…"

She closed her eyes briefly before opening them and switched her sword to her right hand before resheathing it.It was another technique that rivaled her Shiki Stance, except she used her right hand to draw out the sword.If worst came to worst, she would be able to switch hands and automatically use her Shiki Air on Scina.But she hoped that she didn't have to…

She let her breath come out even as she watched Scina closely…she knew that she would only have one shot to kill the Princess before her own stance left her in the open.

"Here I come," Scina whispered in a deadly quiet voice then suddenly blurred from East's sight.

East blinked then counted slowly…One…two…thr-she suddenly drew out her sword with blinding speed and countered Scina's overhead blow.East then crouched and scythed her legs through Scina's.She flipped backwards once as Scina took the fall into a gracefully roll.Firing a ki-ball at Scina, East tilted her head to avoid a powdered-ki ball from Scina herself then charged at her.Shiki Air Stance, she reminded herself as she flipped the hilt of the sword to her left hand.

"Stance one," East whispered to herself as she poised her sword on the tip of her outstretched right hand.She bent her left hand down like a lever and her right hand guided the blade towards Scina's Anazati Double Cut stance.

The impact of both blades left sparks flying everywhere as Scina hopped a bit backwards and East did the same.East glanced at her crystal-metal sword and found that there was a tiny hairline crack.Not good, she reminded herself as she prepared the second stance.This one was a horizontal stance.

She poised herself then charged at Scina who had a wicked look on her face.East thrust the sword towards Scina's chest then closed it and kicked the Princess full in the chest.Suddenly she felt the flaring pain of a sword drawing across her rib cage and she leapt back, her right hand holding the deep gash that Scina had drew across her mid-line.It was bleeding a bit moderately, but she knew that it would heal eventually.

"I seem to be doing better than you," Scina taunted and East narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Old crone," she grated out then prepared her third stance, ignoring the fiery pain of her burned back and her gash across her front.She tried to even out her rapid breathing and focused on the end tip of the crystal-like sword.The blade glistened in the light of the Mystic Moon, some parts of it dripping with blood.Closing her eyes she remembered Marine's light baritone voice, and his words on her first sword lesson_Peace…calm…let the sword work from you…you control it, not it control you…_

East snapped open her eyes, aware that they were glowing crimson red.She yelled a war cry and charged at Scina, who also countered with her own cry.

East ducked underneath her blade that was to slice her chest open and slammed the tip of the crystal blade up towards Scina's chest.She smiled grimly as the blade pierced the Princess' chest and straight into her heart."Shiki Air Stance, Third Form," she whispered then twisted the blade and yanked it out.

Spinning around she gritted her teeth and sliced through the mortally wounded Princess' head, killing her in an instant.East watched as Scina's head rolled from her body and down towards the Wandering Earth where it fell into the depths, never to be seen again.She turned and kicked the kneeled body then saw something flash that was on Scina's neck.A necklace with a blue pendent on it…

Before the body hit the soft earth East reached over and grabbed the necklace and pendent."This was Marine's," she said is a soft but slightly gruff voice as she placed the necklace on her neck then flicked blood off her sword and sheathed it.

She turned around and walked away, never looking back.

***

_Chapter Thirteen – Mystic Eyes of a Dove_

**One month later…**

Van was breathless with anticipation as he fidgeted slightly in his royal uniform.His servants had told him that the outfit he wore was the same one his father used to wear when he married…and Van felt something familiar about it.He glanced around the hall in which he and Hitomi were to be married in…the spacious walls and high ceiling gave the organs a loud sound, but that sound was of a wonderful tune.

"Milord, keep fidgeting and you might worry the guests," East's voice whispered to him and he turned slightly to acknowledge his knight.East hadn't talked much after her battle and was silent when she was treated for her injuries.The odd thing was that she was wearing the same kind of pendent Hitomi had, except it was blue color.

"I know…but…I can't wait," he whispered back to her then suddenly straightened as from the other side of the hall, the doors opened slowly and the first of the handmaidens stepped through.Merle was among them, dressed in a beautiful white gown that accented her cat-like figure.

Van smiled slightly as Merle approached the altar in which he was standing next to.She had climbed out of the Tiberian looking exhausted, and Van had seen the spirit of his knight, Gyei, standing over her then disappearing.Merle had been all right and had devoted herself to Hitomi's well being…and speaking of Hitomi…

"I helped her with the dress," East commented slightly then shut up as Van felt as if his heart had caught in his throat and stayed there.

She was an angel.

The dress was a mix of what Asturian dresses were made out of and a mix of something he did not recognize._She must have gotten material from the Mystic Moon…_he realized as he watched her walk up towards him and the altar.As she passed by the many pews he could hear the faint gasps of awe at her sparkling white dress that trailed a little.It was cut to her neckline, and left her shoulders bare and her brown-blonde hair artfully decorated with crystal dewdrops that was also on her veil.

Van took a quick look at the first two rows of guests that had high priority on their list.Allen, Queen Millernia and King Dryden were sitting with Hitomi's family and her best friend Yukari.Also sitting with them was someone who looked a lot like Allen, but Hitomi had told him that that was Amano Sumusu, a good friend of hers.Along with that group was also Prince Chid and Celena, Allen's sister.

He returned his gaze to Hitomi and stepped forwards tentatively, afraid that it was all a dream…He took her arm and gently led her to the altar where the bishop stood, waiting for them, a proud smile on his face.

Van took a look at Hitomi and caught her deep green eyes._I love you, Hitomi_, he thought to her, oblivious to what the bishop was saying in the introduction.This was the moment he had been waiting for…

The pendent around his neck glowed a warm and friendly pink color…

Escaflowne, standing in its imposing, but regal form, glowed slightly from its drag-energist heart…

***

_~Fini~_

**Author's Notes:**

Wow…it has taken me at least a year to finish this story.After countless of hours of researching Escaflowne things and not even watching the movie…I am proud to say that this has been a good story to write.I don't know if there will be a sequel to this story, but that is in the thinking works right now.I have a lot of other stories to complete and finish, so…Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed Silent Attack and hope that you'll continue to read and review my other stories.Thank you to all those who have been so patient with this story to finish.Check you guys later!Oh, if you want to find my other stories instead of browsing fanfiction.net, you can check out [www.starfightervortex.homestead.com][1].

   [1]: http://www.starfightervortex.homestead.com/



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